Skip to content
Technology & Innovation

Arab Freedom & Oil Shocks

Slate provides what it dubs the American consumer’s guide to the Arab democratization movement. Will you still support Arab freedom if gas prices soar?
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Slate asks if you’ll still support Arab democratization if gas prices soar: “As the governments of the U.S. and the U.K. weigh military options to push Qaddafi out, they are surely aware that the longer oil supplies remain jeopardized, the greater the potential damage to the world economy. It’s never a good time for an oil-price shock, but…right now would be an unbelievably bad time. So how much Arab freedom is too much Arab freedom? The question may offend, but the answer is obvious: A sudden popular uprising in Saudi Arabia to overthrow the Saudi monarchy would almost certainly bring about a worldwide recession.”

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
The integration of artificial intelligence into public health could have revolutionary implications for the global south—if only it can get online.

Up Next