I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?
The Julia lab is seemingly one of those beneficiaries [1].<p>[1] <a href="https://karpinski.org/images/2017,bezanson,julia%20-%20a%20fresh%20approach%20to%20technical%20computing.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://karpinski.org/images/2017,bezanson,julia%20-%20a%20f...</a>
I did my phd at an R1 university with a large international student population mostly from China and South Korea. When I graduated I got a adjunct job at a nearby liberal arts college of about 1/3 the size and was surprised that most of their international students were Saudis.
“Pecunia non olet” (Money does not stink) <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet</a>