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I think part of the fear surrounding Saudi Arabia has to do with the fact that, like other nation states in the region, because of the lack of free speech and the repressiveness of the regime, there are only two voices we ever get to hear -- the official voice of the government and the voice of fundamentalist church. Everything else is either absent or (I suspect) underground. The moderate voice has mostly been squashed into submission. The fundamentalist voice has been allowed to speak, a) because it's from a church and b) because it's mostly speaking against and laying blame at the feet of foreign powers (i.e. the US and its allies).
Add to this, the idea that the government has been buying off it's opposition (much like we see happening all around the Middle East) with oil money and concessions (eg no driving for women, etc.). So long as the moderate voice of change doesn't have a platform, change is difficult to make. I'd be a lot more comfortable about unrest in Saudi Arabia if I knew there was an alternative to the increasingly fundamentalist voices that appear to be the only other voice.
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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke
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