Western calls for democratic reforms in Saudi Arabia and a number of other Arab Persian Gulf states are only empty words, according to a prominent German expert on the Middle East.
Talking to the Deutschland radio station on Wednesday, Guido Steinberg of the Berlin-based German Institute for International Politics and Security (SWP) said that the western demands for democratic reforms in some of the Arab Persian Gulf countries were 'only rhetoric.'
This applies especially to the energy-rich states in the Persian Gulf region, he added.
Steinberg made clear that the US and Europeans would continue to strive for stability rather than democratic changes in those Persian Gulf countries.
'No one wants Saudi Arabia to take a similar way like Egypt, Tunisia or Libya, especially because of the dangers linked to the oil and gas supply of the world economy,' said Steinberg who was a top anti-terror advisor to former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
He predicted the West would continue its policy of 'cronyism' involving Arab Persian Gulf 'dictators.'
Steinberg highlighted especially American double standards when dealing with dictatorial Arab regimes.
The US dropped its support for the Mubarak government very quickly but is continuing 'to back the regime in Bahrain and also in Saudi Arabia,' he added.
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