. >> karen elliott house, was the saudi arabian role in their neighborhood? >> well, they like to think it's a big one, but the saudis into, i like to say they have one policy at its insurance policy, and they take it out with everyone. they prefer to try to use money to solve problems. they are, aside from iran, kind of the only other major power on the gulf, and the u.s. obviously has had a longtime relationship with them, and saudi arabia is now the fourth largest, fourth biggest defense spender in the world after the u.s., china and russia. it doesn't mean they are the fourth largest military power, but they are the fourth biggest spender. so they seek to have influence, but it's more a quiet influence, in my view. they do not -- they did send troops into bahrain this year to try -- or two years ago, to try to keep a sunni minority government in power over a shia majority. but they seek to have more influence than i think they have, in a word. >> the ruling family sending? >> they are sunni, yes. >> why is that significant? >> well, the sunnis are the lar

. >> next, karen elliott house sits down to discuss her book on saudi arabia. in the book she provides an inside look at the history and culture and politics which she has covered as a reporter for 30 years. this interview is part of her college series and it is about 40 minutes long. >> now joining us on booktv is karen elliott house. so before we get into the book "on saudia arabia", how did you get from texas to become a publisher of "the wall street journal." >> guest: i went from matador, texas, to the university covering education and i got hired there by "the wall street journal" and was a reporter there and then ultimately an editor and president of the international operations. >> host: how many years did you do that? >> guest: as a publisher i did that for four years. >> guest: would you think of that? it is a lot of work. and we were allowed to do such great stories and we were able to follow our curiosity. it was a fabulous job. >> host: why are we talking to you at pepperdine university? >> guest: i am teaching a course here in the school of policy

. >> host: finally, karen elliott house, you close with an analogy of the royal 747.hat is that analogy? >> the country is like a 747, the cockpit filled with geriatric pilots. and the rest of them in some cases would like to turn this around and crush it in somewhere there may be a pilot that can safely land the plane but they never get a chance. and there are those that can leave the country and whether the right people get a chance or not remains to be seen. >> host: karen elliott house as our author, "on saudi arabia: its people, past, religion, fault lines" esser buck. here is the cover. the tv is on location at pepperdine university. >> this is booktv on c-span2. television for serious readers. here's the plan primetime lineup. a look at the life of harper lee ann at 830, rick santorum speaks with leadership summit and then the university of michigan professor reports on the impact of the millennial generation at 9:00 p.m. at 10:00 o'clock, "after words" with cheryl temple. she argues that a desire to monitor and control the public is at an all-time high at our

. >> former "wall street journal" publisher karen elliott house, our book, "on saudi arabia: its people, past, religion, fault lines." here's the cover. booktv is on location at pepperdine university. >> there's a look at some books that are being published this week. look for these titles and book stores this coming week and watch for the authors in the near future on booktv and on booktv.org. >>kt