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Since King Fahd's debilitating stroke in 1995, Crown Prince ‘Abduallah, Fahd’s half-brother, became the "unsanctioned" King of Saudi Arabia. According to Teitelbaum, Crown Prince ‘Abdullah is the epitome of an antithesis of King Fahd. A good example of where they differ on a personal level is that the crown prince is a more pious and reserved man who prefers to spend his free time traveling in Arab countries; Fahd, on the other hand, often chooses to retreat to his palaces in Spain and Switzerland.

The character of the new Saudi ruler has excited many of the Kingdom’s exiled opposition groups, who welcome ‘Abdullah and his plans to reform the economy and engage in a progressive, albeit slow-paced, modernization of the Kingdom. This new political orientation, dubbed the "Policy of Balancing" by Teitelbaum, seeks to reconcile the competing, and often times antagonistic, forces of modernization and conservatism within Saudi society. To illustrate this policy, Teitelbaum provides three examples:

Firstly, aware of and concerned about the damaging effects of technological "backwardness" on a country’s economic development, ‘Abdullah supports the introduction and widespread use of the Internet. This new orientation resulted the El Watani project; a plan aimed at introducing and expanding the use of Internet in all schools across Saudi Arabia. As a "free-wheeling" media, however, the Internet had quickly posed a dilemma to the Saudi regime, which, in general, exercised strict control over the flow of information in-and-out of the Kingdom. Accordingly, the regime decided to set up a highly sophisticated and costly system to monitor and censor all "undesirable" websites—ranging from Saudi opposition pages to popular chat rooms. However, not only did these policies fail to prevent complete access to certain websites, the censoring apparatus also proved to be a great impediment to the use of Internet for business. The Saudi business community had called for a greater opening of the Internet; the large ineffective monitoring mechanism had divested the Internet from its cost-effective nature.

The second area exemplifying Abdullah’s policy of "balancing" is the redefinition of the role women play in Saudi society. Last year, ‘Abdullah gave a speech in an Eastern province of the Kingdom where he said that women should have a more active role in society. Women, the prince proclaimed, "are a resource working towards the modernization and development of Saudi society." ‘Abdullah’s message was a clear signal that the secondary role women play in contemporary Saudi life had to be openly debated and reconsidered. ‘Abdullah’s point was largely echoed in the Saudi press, that has since, been engaged in regular discussions and debates over the status and role of Saudi women. Arising from this debate was the recent decision to issue women ID cards. This was more than a mere political or bureaucratic move, since women had to appear unveiled on their photo ID—something quite unusual in the Kingdom. While noting that it had taken nearly two years since the speech to institute a change in the status of women, Teitlebaum believes that these reforms and debates are encouraging, and augur well for the implementation of wider reforms in the future.

Teitlebaum’s last example illustrating his notion of "balancing policy" involves the issue of non-Muslim tourism in Saudi Arabia. Under Fahd’s rule, non-Muslim tourism was nearly prohibited. Today, however, tourist groups are allowed to visit the Kingdom, but only after paying outrageous prices; a typical week-long tour starts at nearly $7000. The Saudis, thus, make it clear that while tolerating non-Muslim tourism, it remains a high-end type of tourism targeting only the world’s wealthiest people or cultural institutions interested in exploring archeological or historical sites.

Delving further in his analysis of the Kingdom’s contemporary politics, Teitelbaum notes that after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, a debate among religious clerics in the form of "Fatwa war" erupted in the Kingdom. While Saudi authority condemned in very strong words the 9/11 attacks¾ describing the attacks as a barbaric act, not just against America, but against mankind, several popular clerics or Ulama declared that America deserved the tragedy inflicted upon it, and that it was merely collecting the fruits of its discriminatory policy toward the Arab-Muslim world. This debate caused great unease and embarrassment among Saudi officials. At the order of ‘Abdullah, the minister of religious affairs convened a meeting with mosque preachers and prayer leaders and exhorted them to tone down their rhetoric, and not to call for jihad, in order to dissipate allegations claiming that a large portion of the Saudi people is supportive of the 9/11 attacks.

Teitelbaum concluded his talk by making an assessment for the future. The Saudi royal family, Teiltelbaum claims, faces great challenges, but none of them presents an imminent threat to the Kingdom's existence. The royal family, he explains, has a strong hold on the Kingdom's key institutions and any threat against the regime can be dealt with immediately and at minimal cost. Under Abdullah's de facto rule, Saudi Arabia will continue its slow-paced modernization, and any future threats will leave the regime unshaken.