When I speak of the fear, intimidation, arrests, and public shaming of intellectuals and religious leaders who dare to speak their minds, and then I tell you that I'm from Saudi Arabia, are you surprised?
Jamal Khashoggi
Repression and intimidation are not - and never should be - the acceptable companions of reform.
We should not need to be reminded of the value of human life.
In the 1970s, the only places on the Arabian Peninsula where women were working outside the home or school were Kuwait and Bahrain.
I began to feel whatever narrow space I had in Saudi Arabia was getting narrower. I thought it would be better to get out and be safe.
I always found it ironic when a Saudi official bashes Islamists, given that Saudi Arabia is the mother of all political Islam - and even describes itself as an Islamic state in its 'Higher Law.'
It should be a known fact that the Arabs never had a problem with anti-Semitism, but we need to state that over and over again.
The government of Dubai, as much as it is a government, it is a corporation.
The core principle of Wahhabism is anti-diverse.
When Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen erupted in March 2015, there was widespread Saudi popular support for it - including by me.
In 2003 and again in 2010, I was fired from my job as editor-in-chief of a 'progressive' paper, Al-Watan. During the years in between, I served as media adviser to Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to Britain and then the United States.
Saudi Arabia is the mother and father of political Islam.
Saudi Arabia must return to fully supporting the Syrian revolution and to ally with the Turks.
I strongly supported the war against Houthi rebels because I saw them as the antithesis of the Arab Spring that my government, unlike me, fiercely opposed.
I often get attacked in Saudi Arabia, but the critics don't ridicule my ideas. There were about 30 or 40 articles attacking me in the Saudi press. Not a single one debated something I wrote. They just ridiculed me as a person. They see me as a traitor who is writing in the foreign press. But discuss what I am writing? They will not.
Terrorism and the refugee crisis have changed the political mood in the West and brought the extreme right to prominence there.
The death of Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh shows that Saudi Arabia is paying for its betrayal of the Arab spring in Yemen in 2011.
There can be no political reform and democracy in any Arab country without accepting that political Islam is a part of it.
Will Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who likely will soon become king of his country, use his power to bring peace to the world around him?
Writers like me, whose criticism is offered respectfully, seem to be considered more dangerous than the more strident Saudi opposition based in London.
My publication, 'The Post,' has taken the initiative to translate many of my pieces and publish them in Arabic. For that, I am grateful. Arabs need to read in their own language so they can understand and discuss the various aspects and complications of democracy in the United States and the West.
I don't want to be a dissident. But in the same time, I don't want to go back home and be silent again.
Corruption in Saudi Arabia is quite different from corruption in most other countries, as it is not limited to a 'bribe' in return for a contract, or expensive gift for the family member of a government official or prince, or use of a private jet that is charged to the government so a family can go on vacation.
The eradication of the Muslim Brotherhood is nothing less than an abolition of democracy and a guarantee that Arabs will continue living under authoritarian and corrupt regimes.
The Arab world was ripe with hope during the spring of 2011. Journalists, academics, and the general population were brimming with expectations of a bright and free Arab society within their respective countries.
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices.
Saudi Arabia has been successful in preventing Houthi missiles from causing substantial damage. Yet, the inability of Saudi authorities in preventing Houthi missiles from being fired in the first place serves as an embarrassing reminder that the kingdom's leadership is unable to restrain their Iranian-backed opponent.
Saudi Arabia is defined and represented by its Islamic stature.
Muslims around the world deserve to see birthplace of Islam represent the ethics of Islam.
The Trump administration always says it wants to correct Obama's mistakes. It should add his mishandling of Arab democracy to its list.
Criticism of the Middle East should not be directed only at Saudi Arabia. Human rights abuses are happening throughout the Arab world.
The United States would be the only honest broker in the international effort to restore peace and justice for all Syrians.
To bring about a permanent peace in Syria, the southern part of the country must be protected.
The United States should propose partition in Syria. Assad can keep what he controls, and the rebels can form local governments and establish a new entity.
One could imagine a day when empowered and experienced representatives of liberated areas will sit with the regime's representatives and work to negotiate to reunify a more democratic Syria.
Many Saudi clerics believe that letting women drive means they will be free to leave the house whenever they like - something that will have a liberalizing and, therefore, unwanted effect on society.
There is nothing remarkable about having media and foreign embassy contacts. When I lived in Saudi Arabia as a journalist, this was a regular occurrence.
I expect that I will still wake up every morning and ponder the choice I have made to speak my mind about what is happening in Saudi Arabia. It is a pattern that I have grown accustomed to.
Many other countries in the region also have money and oil, but they haven't done much good with it - at least not enough to stop the Middle East's disastrous wars. Saudi Arabia at least has something else: stability, a scarce commodity in the region.
I was a teenager in the 1970s and grew up in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
I didn't see a woman drive until I visited my sister and brother-in-law in Tempe, Ariz., in 1976.
Women today should have the same rights as men. And all citizens should have the right to speak their minds without fear of imprisonment.
As a Saudi journalist starting my career right after the oil boom of the 1970s, I witnessed the phenomenal growth and expansion of Saudi businesses and the pivotal role the leaders of these firms played in building the modern Saudi economy.
If Mohammed bin Salman wants to deal properly with corruption, he must preserve two elements vital to the Saudi economy: trust in the state and the role of national companies.
Everyone knew that Saleh and the Houthis were a marriage of convenience. He was a dictator; the Houthis are ideologues who want to impose their fundamentalist vision. Neither cared for the core values of the Arab Spring - representative, accountable governance.
I knew Saleh well, having interviewed and met with him several times. He was a professional Machiavelli, fluent in all forms for political maneuvering.
By facilitating a peace agreement and leading the reinvestment and reconstruction in Yemen, Saudi Arabia can turn around a failed state and bolster its standing as a global and regional leader.
Saudi Arabia has historically attempted to influence politics in Beirut.
I champion a real campaign to tackle the rampant corruption that is draining Saudi resources, both financial and human.
In 2004, Lawrence Wright wrote in the 'New Yorker' about 'The Kingdom of Silence,' where a massive sewer project in Jeddah was really a series of manhole covers across the city with no actual pipes underneath. I, as the editor of a major paper at the time, can say that we all knew - and we never reported on it.
