Comment: Why Saudi Arabia is not perceived more positively

If we do not want young men to be lured to caves, we better build more centres of learning," a director of the King Abdul Aziz Public Library in Riyadh told me. The recognition was startling not only because of its accuracy but also because it touched a core concern.

Unlike several private facilities around Riyadh, the well attended library, a favourite "project" of the Crown Prince, is fully open with a separate section for women and one for children. With a million holdings, including significant archival materials on the country, a young Saudi can access genuine information here.

At a time when it is fashionable to speak of information in a variety of ways - whether it is technological, historical or analytical - one is confronted with an urgent sense of meaning.

What is the value of information to a Saudi looking for a decent living, a well-paying job, with prospects for wealth and prosperity? In other words, how can access to information satisfy his search for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, while remaining true to religious beliefs and social traditions?

Observing young men studying led me to reassess the image of young Saudis. Here were dozens engaged in research, completing assignments, and delving in conduct that would only result in broadening their minds.

How could these devotees function in Tora Bora, Afghanistan, or the caves of northern Pakistan, I tho-ught to myself? How could they abandon the search for answers if they were removed from such environments? A few hours later, I stopped at the King Fahd National Library, a facility open from early morning (6am) to late at night (9pm).

As a depository library, the young institution assembles a rich array of resources, but is still not at its optimum level. Yet, here too, a number of young men were huddled around their tables, reading and taking notes.

A further visit to the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, an establishment open to more senior researchers, gave me yet another glimpse into the amount of learning under way in the Kingdom. Rare documents, archival materials, and books related to the late monarch were available to researchers for the asking.

These visits helped clarify several questions. As there are a number of learning institutions thro-ughout Saudi Arabia, that cater to a myriad of tastes and talents, I wondered why the country was not perceived more positively.

Surely the amount of money devoted to education is astronomical and rising. And with an estimated nine million Saudis less than 15 years old, the education potential of the country is immense, although what most learn is a subject of great controversy.

What ails the Saudi education system is rote learning with little emphasis on analysis.

Likewise, a large percentage of high school and college graduates concentrate on religious studies that, in an increasingly automated society, hinders their potential employment opportunities.

But what about the others, those who are not receiving degrees in religious education, but are learning science? Where are they and what are they doing?

My curiosity led me to call a friend who teaches at King Saud University. I sought to meet with folks who knew something about the subject.

Not surprisingly, Saudi universities are big affairs, duplicating large American architectural styles, including exquisite graffiti in bathrooms. King Saud University is no exception.

My friend confided that nightly cleaning crews photograph the "graffiti du jour" before washing them as a way for the administration to keep a tab on what goes on campus. Aside more common features associated with college student contributions, I was told that one could take Riyadh's pulse by reading interesting social and political commentary.

I observed a few students in the library who looked serious and clearly under various deadlines. A stop at a physics laboratory was equally revealing. Here students were actually conducting experiments. No matter which way I looked, I noticed fundamental changes, all for the better.

Saudi Arabia is embarked on a full opening of its heretofore restricted society and this is best visible in the country's vast education set-up.

While they may exist a clash of civilisations in the minds of a few on the banks of the Charles River in Boston, one notices a different clash in Riyadh, one between conservatism and liberalism. There is much at stake but the outlook is not always as bleak. There is room for optimism and alternatives to caves.

Joseph Kéchichian, author of several books, is an analyst on Gulf and Middle East affairs.