I WAS very much impressed with the idea articulated by the well-known writer Daniya Kolielat Al-Khatib in an article appeared in the Lebanese daily An-Nahar. Al-Khatib is an expert in Arab-American relations and the author of the famous book, "The Arab lobby and the US: Factors for success and failure." In the article, titled "How can the Kingdom improve its image in the US," Al-Khatib emphasizes the need for removing the negative stereotype of Saudi Arabia prevailing in the United States. She cites two baseless allegations that are behind this stereotyping: First, the Kingdom supports extremist ideologies and, the second, the country does not respect individual freedom. Many Americans espouse this image believing that these unfounded allegations are true. Simple denials of these allegations or presenting real facts to show that these are untrue are quite insufficient to make any drastic changes in the Western mindset toward us. As Al-Khatib emphasized, we must come out with a series of well-thought-out media strategies and programs to change this mentality of the people in the West. For this, our approach should be a harmonious, logical and honest. In order to achieve this, the support of civil society is indispensable. All segments of Saudi society — men, women and the youth — will be actively and independently involved in a wide range of political, cultural and economic activities to communicate with their counterparts in Western states to present the true image of the Kingdom. There must be a thrust on people to people contact rather than any public relations gimmicks in this respect. The main goal of this shall be to present a true image of the Kingdom by the public itself rather than any governmental bodies or public relations firms. Hiring PR firms to undertake the image building exercise would be counterproductive because these paid agencies will not be instrumental in winning the trust and confidence of the Western people. Similar is the case with entrusting PR companies to produce and market documentary films and videos aimed at removing the negative stereotyping. The visits of governmental delegations can also bring about only limited impact in improving the Kingdom's image abroad.
