One recent correspondence that I received about Saudi Arabia made me go: "hmmm". As it so happens, this bunch of guys apparently got together and raised a petition to the King asking for reform. Typically, they were immediately rounded up and thrown into jail. Well, we know that at least some were, but no concrete information is available, as the magic kingdom, for some reason, doesn't allow free flow of information. Amnesty International got on the case, but overall, the debate fizzled out. One month after the original petition was launched; the matter seems to have quietly died. Flash in the pan! Nobody cares; nobody knows what happened; it's as dead as the Norwegian Blue Parrot or the dodo.

However, remember what chaos theory says, the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Chile can produce a typhoon in China. Will this petition for change in Saudi Arabia possibly be a small step in the very long pilgrimage to getting that magic kingdom join reality?

First, the recent petition. It wasn't lacking for ambition, asking for reforms in the economic, social and political spheres. This can be looked at in two ways. One way would be to read it and wonder, how in the name of all the turtles in the world, do these petitioners think that this would be accepted? Haven't they heard of being focused? Nobody loves a messiah, (if you excuse the pun!) but asking for so many things to be changed in one petition leads one to think perhaps they are theoretical, immature or even childish.

On the other hand, the fact that a reform petition had to be launched on such a broad front leads to the question of why Saudi Arabia would be faced with such a broad based petition. The petitioners are not stupid; they are smart, intelligent and well educated. What are they really asking for? They want a parliament, which means that the current appointed Shura Council isn't doing that well. They want laws to reduce inequality and a just distribution of resources, which means that there is dramatic inequality and some people think that several people have a disproportionate share of national resources. They want freedom of opinion, freedom of expression and freedom of association, which means that these freedoms are not readily available.

Linked to the freedom of association request is the request to legitimise the formation of NGOs, which means that associations such as unions, etc. cannot be formed. The petition requested some other administrative reforms such as reforming the Interior Ministry, Public and Government Audit Office, creation of an independent High Court of Justice, etc. One might wonder, as we hear these kinds of demands pretty much all over the world in some shape or form - what's the big deal? Well, it is a big deal when we are talking about Saudi Arabia, a country that is quite important.