There is deep concern among Saudi students who study in the United States, that the introduction of the enhanced security search measures will affect their return into the country, reports Asharq-Alwasat. Following a terrorist attempt over the holidays, federal officials imposed new security measures on passengers coming from fourteen countries, who will be subjected indefinitely to the intense screening at airports worldwide.

Many Saudi students fear a return to the measures that were taken in the wake of 9/11; a fear that was reinforced by the sequestration for two days of a Saudi student at Amsterdam airport in the Netherlands.

Ahmad Al-Kaabi, a Saudi student in Texas, pointed out that the particular treatment of Saudi nationals at checkpoints on their way to the United States is not the result of this incident; in fact, it has been in force for years.

Shadi Hamid, a Middle East and security-policy expert at Brookings Institution's Doha Center, explains in an interview for Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty that the new restrictions may affect Washington's relationship with Middle Eastern nations. The restrictions entail being patted down and hand-searching the carry-ons of selected passengers.

Hamid believes that these new security measures may not necessarily enhance America's security but may reassure Americans, although the measures are mostly a reflection "of a general hysteria that we have seen in the media the last week in response to the Christmas bomber plot."

Hamid remarks that these measures may be in fact limited since terrorists may very well adapt their strategies. He further points out that there is certainly a risk of some fallout with the countries listed, which should be kept in mind in public diplomacy efforts.

"Clearly it's not going to help trade or business relations between US and Saudi Arabia," Saudi Businessman Ahmed Egal told The Media Line, reports the Jerusalem Post. "It will not be easy for Saudi businessmen to travel."

"Many Saudi businessmen were extremely frustrated by the delays and were sometimes denied visas to go to the United States," Egal said. "As a consequence they directed their sourcing to other countries in Europe and Asia."

Economic analysts are questioning the inclusion of Saudi Arabia, as it is one of the few countries on the list with which the US maintains close political and economic ties.

Mshari Al-Zaidy denounces in Asharq-Alwasat the Western panic with regards to Islamist terrorists, which seems to stem from a security "hysteria rather than a mature conduct." According to Al-Zaidy, Westerners fear that Islamists will sneak up on them from every angle or will fall out of the sky.

"Will every Muslim now automatically fall under suspicion?" he asks. He adds that terrorists are not easy to track down and do not always correspond to specific profiles. "There are no scanners for the brain or the soul that could expose the evil thoughts nesting in the heads of terrorists. If there were such a thing, most of us would not be able to even sit down with one another!"

 The US's reaction is "nothing but a knee-jerk reaction." The Obama administration has changed its tone and Al-Zaidy believes it is now starting to sound more like the former administration, as the president "vows to hunt down terrorists and tighten security measures at airports by using full-body scanners."

Al-Zaidy believes these measures fail to address the real issue, that is religious fanaticism, and as long as it remains adequately unaddressed, no airport security measures will be able to ensure complete safety.