Thomas W. Lippman, a former Middle East bureau chief of the <em>Washington Post</em>, is the author of six books about the region and an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Economics is in the Driving Seat

[caption id="attachment_55246006" align="aligncenter" width="620"] A Saudi woman sits in a vehicle as a passenger on September 22, 2013 in Riyadh …