national security advisor through to riyadh. >> woodruff: just a few days ago. >> to talk with him because ever since hosni mubarak stepped down in egypt and the saudies were quite vocal in their displeasure with how the united states handled it, i disagree with the saudi criticism, but i think this is a difficult balancing act that links us to oil, counterterrorism and a range of interests in the region. >> woodruff: maria mcfarland, remind us why the saudis care some of about what is happening in bahrain? >> they don't want a neighboring country to present an example to their citizens of change, of greater democracy. it would be very problematic for the saudis if suddenly their population saw that a neighboring country they had a constitutional monarchy. similarly, it's a problem because the protestors in bahrain are part of the majority shi'a population, for the most part. and the sunni government, like the bahraini government, is sunni.