Watch “The Ladies First” documentary at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ8WPHj6Nhw&ab_channel=TheNewYorkTimes
Respond to the following:
What are the most effective strategies to persuade the Saudi government to expand women’s rights both within and externally? What risks, if any, are there in pursuing such changes? How can religion and culture affect and have an impact on how public policy is made on human rights?
Overview
Saudi Arabia has devised a new strategy to woo Americans: portraying itself to Middle America as the Arab world’s trailblazer for women’s rights. Unable to wash away the reputational bloodstains from the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and with the war in Yemen having turned into a quagmire from which the Biden administration wants to extricate the U.S., Saudi Arabia has come up with a new strategy to woo Americans. You did read that correctly. Female rights!
In order to achieve this, Saudi Arabia has relocated a significant portion of its lobbying efforts from the Washington Beltway to the Midwest, where it believes its reputation is less tarnished, and hired PR companies to highlight the accomplishments of Saudi women. Saudi Arabia made 1,000 of its nearly 2,000 lobbying contacts during 2020.
The regime increased the terms of its contract with the PR company LS2group in November 2019, paying them $1.5 million annually. The business, which is based in Des Moines, Iowa, has strong ties to the Republican Party and Big Oil. In the past, it has assisted the Saudis in lobbying against 9/11 victims who sought to hold the monarchy accountable for its ties to the hijackers.
The LS2group’s plan was to showcase the regime’s “enlightened” policies toward women while subcontracting work to other businesses or consultants in states like Indiana, South Dakota, and Colorado. The Saudi Embassy received a glossy leaflet from LS2group that displays a woman riding a bicycle (so progressive!) and discusses the country’s “excellent development in the area.”
