Saudi Arabia

Dangerous liaisons

Directed by Claude Trinquesse

World diplomacy is dominated by the powder keg of the Middle East: the Islamic State, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian impasse and the Iranian nuclear crisis, Saudi Arabia is at the center of all this excitement. Yet we know little about this monarchy. This documentary lifts the veil on its history, its special place in Islam, its relations with the United States, France and its Shiite neighbors.

In Saudi Arabia, political and religious powers are closely intertwined. How and why has this absolute monarchy spread Wahhabism around the world in recent history? This religious doctrine, regarded by other currents of Islam as sectarian and dangerous, sometimes flirts with radical jihadist movements. But the presence of Islamic fundamentalism within the regime has never prevented the West from placing Saudi Arabia at the center of all its alliance strategies in the Middle East. Blamed for creating the conditions for jihad, Saudi Arabia remains a key ally of the Western powers.

Directed by: Claude Trinquesse
Written by: Julie Lerat
Production: YAMI 2 - Christophe Nick
Broadcaster: France 5
Year of release: 2016
Duration: 52 min and 74 min