CONFLICTED Conflicted Revisited: Spying for Saudi
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Feb 24, 2026 A deep dive into Saudi Arabia's early foundations and the shifting imperial ties from Britain to the United States. Stories about oil concessions, Aramco's cultural footprint, and American influence in the Eastern Province. Exploration of Cold War spycraft and regional espionage networks. A detailed recounting of Jamal Khashoggi's break with power and the violent consulate incident.
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Growing Up Inside Aramco's American Bubble
- Aimen Dean grew up in the Aramco-influenced Eastern Province with Americanized schools, Aramco TV, and US-style campus life at King Fahd University.
- Aramco built schools, broadcast US sitcoms, and staffed universities with American-trained professors, shaping daily culture.
Childhood Memory Of A Public Execution
- Aimen Dean witnessed his first public execution at age nine in Khobar and describes the visceral shock of seeing a beheading from a rooftop.
- He recalls the head falling and blood gushing, leaving him numb and upsetting his mother, illustrating how public executions function socially.
Public Executions Aim To Enable Forgiveness Not Spectacle
- Public executions in Saudi practice function to encourage victim-family forgiveness and allow community-led restitution rather than state-only punishment.
- Sharia frames murder as a civil dispute where blood money and the family's decision to forgive can substitute for state execution.