The show's production designer Lester Cohen plays the flight school owner.
When Ali is in the hotel room watching TV, the sheikh on TV was actually talking about Atheism.
Among others the episode title refers (and is mentioned in dialogue by Diane) to the relation between the US and Saudi Arabia.
In the TV show 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin's character, Jack, has a suggested relationship with Condaleeza Rice. In the opening moments of this episode, Alec Baldwin's character calls Condaleeza.