Women’s vote in Saudi: a win?

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to reform from various sources and for many years. So what made King Abdullah concede?

The Saudi monarchy must be fearing civil unrest with the Arab Spring and the overthrow of despots in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. So did they give women the vote to try and keep their population calm? Is this an empty gesture or will it actually lead to much needed social reform? Will the female vote keep the country stable?

And will it make any difference seeing that the elections end at municipal level? After all, the monarchy still controls the country’s decisions.