Looking for Change in All the Right Places: The New Middle East

The Middle East is changing. New investment and trade relationships are emerging based on economics, not religion. In December more than 700,000 Saudi kids participated in a four-day rave in the Saudi desert with regular intermissions for Islamic prayers. What's going on? Has the Middle East of strict Islam suddenly turned into something more modern? Have the Arabs figured out how to move beyond religious conflict? Neil Quilliam is a deeply knowledgeable, experienced expert in the region. He has been engaged with the politics, economics, and societies of the Middle East and North Africa for decades: today from Chatham House and earlier through his service in the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.