Saudi Gazette In this second of a three-part series based on an interview and excerpts, we are highlighting Dr. S. Rob Sobhani's views on King Abdullah's policies on the world economy and stability. A column in the Saudi newspaper, Al-Watan, suggested that the King's move was symbolic of his efforts throughout the Arab and Muslim World, the King's outstretched hand is attempting to lift others upwards. From the Palestinian territories to Lebanon, from Somalia to Iraq, King Abdullah has offered his hand to quell conflicts and find solutions to problems across the region. In the Muslim World, the King continues to spearhead Saudi Arabia's extensive aid efforts around the globe – the Kingdom offers an average of five percent of its GDP in aid, one of the highest in the world. King Abdullah also displayed his outstretched hand to the world in May 2008 when he announced a $500 million grant to the World Food Program of the United Nations to help the world's poor cope with rising food costs, helping the more than 130 million people who had been pushed into hunger and the two billion people affected by the crisis. Praising King Abdullah's contribution, Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General said: “This contribution of an unprecedented size and generosity comes not a moment too soon, given the needs of millions of people dependent on food rations.” Josette Shearan, Chairperson of the World Food Program, claimed that the “extraordinary” Saudi donation helped it reach its goal of $755 million and “will keep many people away from dying, others from slipping into malnutrition and disease, and will even help to stave off civil unrest.” Shearan added that the Saudi donation would allow the WFP “to continue to provide food for millions of children enrolled in school and therapeutic feeding programs in Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Somalia and in many other critical hunger zones.” She described it as an extraordinary act that links the King to “humanitarians around the world.” In February 2009, at the prestigious World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland, the WFP awarded King Abdullah its most prestigious prize: Champion in the Battle Against Hunger. Shearan told the Davos gathering that witnessed the award ceremony that, “King Abdullah's generosity has not only moved the world but has saved many lives in this year of challenge. For this reason he is recognized, not only by us, but by many others.” Abdullah Zainal Ali Reza, then minister of industry and commerce, accepted the award on King Abdullah's behalf. During the ceremony, World Food Program officials noted that King Abdullah's generous donation in response to the crisis of rising food prices has had an impact beyond that moment of trouble. King Abdullah's donation has aided an additional 23 million beneficiaries in 24 countries in programs which include extending school feeding to 2.6 million children in six countries (Haiti, Liberia, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Tajikistan), providing supplementary rations of nutritious food to malnourished children and women – 130,000 malnourished children in seven countries (Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Liberia, Senegal and Tajikistan) with another 11 countries about to start implementation; and accelerating cash and voucher programs to enable people to access food through markets in countries from Malawi to Nepal. King Abdullah's oil policy also represents an outstretched hand to the world. With 25 percent of the world's oil reserves and the only meaningful excess capacity among major oil producers, Saudi Arabia is, by far, the most powerful state influencer of oil prices in the world. While a myriad number of factors influence the oil prices from rising demand in Asia to speculators in New York and London to weather patterns and civil conflicts in Africa —individual states matter less in this equation — a country like Saudi Arabia still plays a vital role in stabilizing oil prices. King Abdullah's policy has been clear: Saudi Arabia seeks a stable, fair, moderate price that allows consumer countries to purchase oil, does not bankrupt poor countries, and yet still allows producers enough of a cash surplus to re-invest in their oil industry for future sales. In fact, in a July 2009 report, the International Monetary Fund praised Saudi Arabia for its wise policies that promoted oil market price stability and moderation. Often, Saudi Arabia pushes back efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) price hawks who seek to dramatically spike prices. Perhaps even more importantly, Saudi Arabia under King Abdullah has engaged in an ambitious production expansion program which will bring more crude oil on line to world markets thus satisfying growing demand and tempering prices. — To be continued __
