Salon.com has an article written by Juan Cole on the ascent of Abdullah to the throne in Saudi Arabia. In many ways, this is a non-event, as “[t]he devout Abdullah (‘the servant of God’), who has the smile and goatee of a genial beatnik, has been in de facto control of the kingdom since 1995, when Fahd (‘the panther’) had a debilitating stroke.” But Cole provides some useful insights into changes in Saudi Arabia that have accompanied the change in power. It’s not all good, but it certainly isn’t all bad.