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Author: Anthony H. Cordesman Publisher: ISBN: Category : Internal security Languages : en Pages : 29
Book Description
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has begun a process of political change and turmoil that will take years to play out, and which could destabilize some MENA countries for a decade or more as a worst case. There is a tangible risk that Saudi Arabia will be affected in the short term, and it will take continued leadership and vision for Saudi Arab to deal with its longer-term internal challenges. This is a critical issue for both the US and global economy and US efforts deter and defend against Iran, instability in countries like Yemen, and deal with the threat of terrorism. The report concludes that Saudi Arabia is scarcely immune to protest and dissent, and has long struggled with the challenges of reform. What is most striking about the Kingdom over the past months of crisis, however, is the lack of any major challenge to government and the way it functions. The most serious challenges to Saudi stability may be structural. At the same time, there are reasons to believe that Saudi Arabia will remain stable and continue on the path to peaceful reform and change. No country in the MENA region has done more to invest in government services, education and jobs for youth, and broadly based economic development. The monarchy is reforming, putting more emphasis on performance, improving the ruler of law, and reducing corruption.
Author: Anthony H. Cordesman Publisher: ISBN: Category : Internal security Languages : en Pages : 29
Book Description
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has begun a process of political change and turmoil that will take years to play out, and which could destabilize some MENA countries for a decade or more as a worst case. There is a tangible risk that Saudi Arabia will be affected in the short term, and it will take continued leadership and vision for Saudi Arab to deal with its longer-term internal challenges. This is a critical issue for both the US and global economy and US efforts deter and defend against Iran, instability in countries like Yemen, and deal with the threat of terrorism. The report concludes that Saudi Arabia is scarcely immune to protest and dissent, and has long struggled with the challenges of reform. What is most striking about the Kingdom over the past months of crisis, however, is the lack of any major challenge to government and the way it functions. The most serious challenges to Saudi stability may be structural. At the same time, there are reasons to believe that Saudi Arabia will remain stable and continue on the path to peaceful reform and change. No country in the MENA region has done more to invest in government services, education and jobs for youth, and broadly based economic development. The monarchy is reforming, putting more emphasis on performance, improving the ruler of law, and reducing corruption.
Author: Bernard Haykel Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1316194191 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 361
Book Description
Making sense of Saudi Arabia is crucially important today. The kingdom's western province contains the heart of Islam, and it is the United States' closest Arab ally and the largest producer of oil in the world. However, the country is undergoing rapid change: its aged leadership is ceding power to a new generation, and its society, dominated by young people, is restive. Saudi Arabia has long remained closed to foreign scholars, with a select few academics allowed into the kingdom over the past decade. This book presents the fruits of their research as well as those of the most prominent Saudi academics in the field. This volume focuses on different sectors of Saudi society and examines how the changes of the past few decades have affected each. It reflects new insights and provides the most up-to-date research on the country's social, cultural, economic and political dynamics.
Author: Judith Share Yaphe Publisher: ISBN: Category : Military assistance, American Languages : en Pages : 4
Book Description
Saudi Arabia has been one of the most stable of the U.S. allies in the Arab Middle East and a long-time collaborator in assuring oil production at reasonable prices. Saudi Arabia is also a state in transition, presided over by an ailing monarch and an extensive family network whose princes play a prominent role in the country's political and economic life. The economy is plagued by overspending, domestic debt, and uncertain income from oil revenues. The social compact between the Al Sa'ud rulers and the ruled is showing signs of fraying as royals compete with commoners for allocation of the country's wealth and resources. A growing number of Saudis, encouraged perhaps by the regime's Islamist critics, are calling for greater participation and accountability in government. They are not calling for western-style democratic institutions, seeing these perhaps as too innovative and threatening for their fragile, conservative society. Leadership change, when it comes, is likely to produce little change in basic policies and threat perceptions. The ruling family is large, and its relationships in society are too extensive to be easily overturned. Most elites share the Al Sa'uds' prejudices: support for Islamist causes, suspicions of U.S. intentions, and reluctance to rely solely on the United States for its protection.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Saudi Arabia has been one of the most stable of the U.S. allies in the Arab Middle East and a long-time collaborator in assuring oil production at reasonable prices. Saudi Arabia is also a state in transition, presided over by an ailing monarch and an extensive family network whose princes play a prominent role in the country's political and economic life. The economy is plagued by overspending, domestic debt, and uncertain income from oil revenues. The social compact between the Al Sa'ud rulers and the ruled is showing signs of fraying as royals compete with commoners for allocation of the country's wealth and resources. A growing number of Saudis, encouraged perhaps by the regime's Islamist critics, are calling for greater participation and accountability in government. They are not calling for western-style democratic institutions, seeing these perhaps as too innovative and threatening for their fragile, conservative society. Leadership change, when it comes, is likely to produce little change in basic policies and threat perceptions. The ruling family is large, and its relationships in society are too extensive to be easily overturned. Most elites share the Al Sa'uds' prejudices: support for Islamist causes, suspicions of U.S. intentions, and reluctance to rely solely on the United States for its protection.
Author: Naval Postgraduate School Publisher: CreateSpace ISBN: 9781507854488 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 68
Book Description
Political stability in Saudi Arabia is a key strategic concern of the United States and the international community. As the largest producer of oil in the world and the country with the greatest proven reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia will be a central player in the world's economic health for decades to come. However, Saudi Arabia is also characterized by one of the fastest growing population rates in the world, and its economic and political capacity to absorb such rapid population growth is not so clear. There is a growing body of literature that systematically links demographic growth and political instability, including revolutionary instability. This thesis draws on Goldstone's model to predict whether Saudi Arabia may be vulnerable to severe instability based on rapid demographic change. The Political Stress Indicator model consists of three conditions that must exist simultaneously for large-scale internal crises to occur; namely, fiscal crisis, elite dissent, and social mobilization. Our major finding is that the Saudi regime will likely be able to maintain political stability in the foreseeable future. While we conclude that Saudi Arabia will not face revolutionary instability in the foreseeable future, we caution that these problems are serious enough to closely monitor.
Author: Anthony H. Cordesman Publisher: Greenwood ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 448
Book Description
With the continuing importance of Saudi Arabia in regional and world politics, the current and future effectiveness of the Saudi military carries increased significance. Despite recent strains in relations with the U.S., particularly in light of the role Saudis played in the events of September 11, 2001, the Kingdom remains America's key Arab ally. Cordesman studies the challenges faced by the Saudis from both their allies and their potential enemies to assess Saudi Arabia's ability to forge a better approach to collective security in the Gulf and to create more stable long-term security arrangements with the U.S. and other Western Powers. This assessment of Saudi Arabia's strategic position includes a full-scale analysis of Saudi military forces, defense expenditures, arms imports, military modernization, readiness and war fighting capability. It examines both the cooperation and tension with other Southern Gulf States. It explores the implications of the conventional military build-up and creeping proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the Gulf and the resulting changes in Saudi Arabia's security position. All of these factors have critical implications for stability within the Kingdom, within the Gulf, as well as in the broader global context.
Author: F Gregory Gause, III Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations ISBN: 0876095171 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 64
Book Description
The United States'' relationship with Saudi Arabia has been one of the cornerstones of U.S. policy in the Middle East for decades. Despite their substantial differences in history, culture, and governance, the two countries have generally agreed on important political and economic issues and have often relied on each other to secure mutual aims. The 1990-91 Gulf War is perhaps the most obvious example, but their ongoing cooperation on maintaining regional stability, moderating the global oil market, and pursuing terrorists should not be downplayed. Yet for all the relationship''s importance, it is increasingly imperiled by mistrust and misunderstanding. One major question is Saudi Arabia''s stability. In this Council Special Report, sponsored by the Center for Preventive Action, F. Gregory Gause III first explores the foundations of Riyadh''s present stability and potential sources of future unrest. It is difficult not to notice that Saudi Arabia avoided significant upheaval during the political uprisings that swept the Middle East in 2011, despite sharing many of the social and economic problems of Egypt, Yemen, and Libya. But unlike their counterparts in Cairo, Sanaa, and Tripoli, Riyadh''s leadership was able to maintain order in large part by increasing public spending on housing and salaries, relying on loyal and well-equipped security forces, and utilizing its extensive patronage networks. The divisions within the political opposition also helped the government''s cause. This is not to say that Gause believes that the stability of the House of Saud is assured. He points out that the top heirs to the throne are elderly and the potential for disorderly squabbling may increase as a new generation enters the line of succession. Moreover, the population is growing quickly, and there is little reason to believe that oil will forever be able to buy social tranquility. Perhaps most important, Gause argues, the leadership''s response to the 2011 uprisings did little to forestall future crises; an opportunity for manageable political reform was mostly lost. Turning to the regional situation, Gause finds it no less complex. Saudi Arabia has wielded considerable influence with its neighbors through its vast oil reserves, its quiet financial and political support for allies, and the ideological influence of salafism, the austere interpretation of Islam that is perhaps Riyadh''s most controversial export. For all its wealth and religious influence, however, Saudi Arabia''s recent record has been less than successful. It was unable to counter Iranian influence in post-Saddam Iraq, it could not prevent Hezbollah taking power in Lebanon, and its ongoing efforts to reconcile Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have come to naught. The U.S.-Saudi relationship has, unsurprisingly, been affected by these and other challenges, including Saudi unhappiness with Washington''s decision to distance itself from Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, the lack of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and Iran. For its part, the United States is unhappy with the Saudi intervention in Bahrain and Saudi support for radical Islamists around the region and the world. The two traditional anchors of the U.S.-Saudi relationship-the Cold War and U.S. operation of Riyadh''s oil fields-are, Gause notes, no longer factors. It is no wonder, he contends, that the relationship is strained when problems are myriad and the old foundations of the informal alliance are gone. It would be far better, Gause argues, to acknowledge that the two countries can no longer expect to act in close concert under such conditions. He recommends that the United States reimagine the relationship as simply transactional, based on cooperation when interests-rather than habit-dictate. Prioritizing those interests will therefore be critical. Rather than pressuring Riyadh for domestic political reform, or asking it to reduce global oil prices, Gause recommends that the United States spend its political capital where it really matters: on maintaining regional security, dismantling terrorist networks, and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. There have been few relationships more important to the United States than that with Saudi Arabia, and it is vital that, as it enters a new phase, the expectations and priorities of both countries are clear. In Saudi Arabia in the New Middle East, Gause effectively assesses the challenges and opportunities facing Saudi Arabia and makes a compelling argument for a more modest, businesslike relationship between Washington and Riyadh that better reflects modern realities. As the United States begins reassessing its commitments in the Greater Middle East, this report offers a clear vision for a more limited-but perhaps more appropriate and sustainable-future partnership.
Author: Anthony H. Cordesman
Author: Anthony H. Cordesman
Author: Mohammed F. Al Sandiony
Author: John A. Shaw
Author: Bernard Haykel
Author: Judith Share Yaphe
Author: Angela Stent
Author: 
Author: Naval Postgraduate School
Author: Anthony H. Cordesman
Author: F Gregory Gause, III