This article examines factors that influence the stability of the Saudi political regime. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has faced serious threats that have had impacts on the country; however, none of them has threatened the survival of the Saudi royal family in the Kingdom. The Arab uprisings, the well-known Arab Spring, led to the collapse of political regimes in the Arab region surrounding Saudi Arabia, as in Egypt and Yemen. However, the Saudi political regime was able to overcome this wave of popular revolutions and changes. Thus, this study attempts to answer a major question: why is it difficult to topple the Saudi political regime? Whereas the country’s oil wealth or external protection by great powers, Great Britain in the past, and currently the United States, are seen as main factors in the stability of the Saudi political regime, it is suggested here that the key factor that has helped the Saudi political regime successfully confront all internal and external threats rests on the influence of the religious Wahhabi concept, called “ ta’at wali al-amr .”

This article explains the active policies adopted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) towards the Horn of Africa, which could be attributed to the existence of rival regional powers, especially Iran and Turkey, and their adoption of policies deemed threatening to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. It uses “alliance politics” to explain how both countries are containing regional threats by building alliances with countries in the Horn of Africa by promoting military and trade relations and boosting development.

This paper investigates the policies of both Ankara and Riyadh toward the ongoing crisis between Qatar and the Saudi-led quartet since mid-2017. The crisis has shaken the balance in the region and laid the foundation for new understandings regarding Gulf unity and regional order. On these grounds, it is worth examining the stances of regional actors through different approaches of foreign policy. By using the “three-dimensional” methodology of Kenneth Waltz, this paper analyzes the rationale behind Turkish and Saudi policy toward the Gulf crisis on individual-, state-, and international-based levels since these two countries are among the most influential actors in the region. It argues that Turkish and Saudi approaches can confront each other if the regional developments carry an ideological nature, as in the case of the Gulf crisis.

The Arab Spring initiated a new era in the history of the Middle East and significantly shifted regional dynamics. It profoundly marked the history of the region and affected relations between Middle Eastern countries. Qatar–Saudi Arabia relations have likewise been profoundly impacted by it. This study focuses on how the Arab Spring affected relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and on how the regional power struggle and rivalry between Riyadh and Doha were exacerbated during that period when disagreements and clashes escalated and deepened between both countries. It also emphasizes the causes of tensions that emerged during the period of the Arab Spring between both states. Using classical realism as a theoretical framework in approaching the issues at hand, the study begins by outlining the historical background to Qatar–Saudi Arabia relations. It then describes the policies of Qatar and Saudi Arabia towards the Arab Spring and explores the problem areas in their bilateral relations. Finally, the sanctions imposed against Qatar are also discussed.

This paper seeks to assess the nature and scope of open data in government (OPD/open public data) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following a qualitative approach, OPD portals of GCC countries are being studied besides seeking inputs from secondary data sources which are relevant in providing theoretical understanding of OPD. The paper shows that OPD in the GCC countries is in its nascent stage and little academic interest has been shown in this area. Future research should highlight the prospects of OPD implementation in the GCC countries given their strategic importance for many reasons. To ascertain that the OPD implementation gathers pace in the GCC countries, governments need to make more robust strategies in terms of physical and research infrastructure for better data analytics and utility. Hitherto, there has been no study covering the significance and implications of OPD in a GCC context; this is the first study to undertake this as its research theme. Furthermore, academic research on OPD in the GCC countries is lacking; the present study seeks to fill this gap.

The Saudi leadership feels threatened, first of all by Shi'ite Iran, but also by the extremist Islamic State (IS), the Muslim Brotherhood and even liberal intellectuals. Low oil prices cause growing deficits, while youth unemployment remains huge. Is the House of Saud on the verge of collapse? This paper first addresses the recent succession, as a result of which new King Salman's young son, Muhammad bin Salman, accumulated unparalleled power. It asks whether his ambitious plans to modernize the Saudi economy can save the kingdom or if his fast rise will unleash a power struggle. This paper also looks at the war in Yemen which Muhammad bin Salman started and that might deepen the already problematic state of the Saudi economy. Finally, it explores a number of scenarios from muddling through to total implosion.

Abdullah, as Saudi crown prince and king, initiated a number of socio-political reforms to placate the growing concerns over rising radicalism and political discontent. Among these measures were efforts to improve the education system, employment opportunities and women’s rights. Political reforms included expansion of the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Council), municipal elections, national and interfaith dialogues and concessions to Shias, but most important was the formation of the Allegiance Council towards institutionalizing succession. Though not insignificant, these reform initiatives did not considerably advance the possibilities of an inclusive state and society. Hence, his domination of the Saudi political landscape for five decades did not transform into a lasting legacy primarily due to Abdullah’s inability to bring about structural changes within the ruling family and wider society.

This paper investigates the role played by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in mediating disputes since its creation in 1981 to 2011, the year of the outbreak of the ‘Arab Spring’. It analyzes the contributions of the GCC as a conflict mediator by cross-checking this sub-regional group's institutional structure and policy approach, and presents two major findings. Firstly, the GCC was hardly designed as a conflict mediator, given that the Gulf Arab states created it as a vehicle to respond to intra-Gulf and external security threats and challenges. Secondly, in order to promote its foreign policy independence and boost its regional and global diplomatic profile to ensure its security and survival in the dangerous environment of the Gulf region, it is Qatar that has extensively attempted to mediate conflicts in Lebanon, Yemen and Sudan, with varying degrees of success, under the banners of the GCC and the Arab League. Finally, the paper presents a series of policy recommendations, based on critical insights from Qatari mediation experiences, to enable the GCC to be a proactive dispute mediator.

There have been reform movements and various attempts at reform in Saudi Arabia since the early 1990s. This study attempts to put forward and discuss the hypothesis that may be summarized as the impact of political reform measures on the kingdom in achieving harmony between the state and society to guarantee stability and security in the present and for future generations. The study analyzes proposals for political reform in the country and the scope of the government's response to these during the past years. This is especially relevant in view of the Arab movement for change in the Gulf region and the Arab world in general, and the repercussions of global terrorism in Syria and Iraq and its intensification that is threatening the borders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including Saudi Arabia.

The Arab uprisings posed serious challenges to Saudi Arabia at the level of society and leadership. Activists engaged in intense debates, and both real and virtual protest, to which the leadership responded by fighting for security and survival. The uprisings added to the regime's internal succession burdens as Islamists in other Arab countries won seats in elected parliaments. The regime responded by deploying tight security measures at home and adopting three strategies to contain the outcome of the Arab uprisings: containment, counter-revolution and revolution. This article examines the intersections between the local and regional challenges facing Saudi Arabia at a critical historical moment. It demonstrates that Arab revolutions and the empowerment of Islamists in neighbouring Arab countries contribute to Saudi Arabia's losing its unique Islamic credentials. The regime is eager to contain the uprisings in such a way as to remain the sole Islamic model in the region.

The concept of energy security as understood by a sample of Saudi Arabian residents representing different demographic and occupational characteristics is explored. Based on a review of the academic literature concerning energy security for Saudi Arabia, a working set of eight testable hypotheses, related to (1) energy trade, (2) centralization and participation in energy decisions, (3) pricing of energy products, (4) research and development in new energy technologies, (5) security of supply and domestic resource depletion, (6) affordability of energy, (7) energy efficiency, and (8) water availability, is created. These hypotheses are then compared with the results of a survey instrument completed by 298 Saudi respondents, before the article concludes with implications for policy-makers and energy analysts.

Over the past decade, the states of the Arabian peninsula have taken strides to liberalize their political systems. They have convened elections for different types of representative bodies and have liberalized their economies more than ever before. Some countries have even systematized these elections over time. While the political science literature views elections as a significant step towards political liberalization, it remains unclear whether or not elections in authoritarian settings actually lead to more meaningful reforms. This paper considers the institutional set-up and limits that are placed on representative bodies in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and how these inhibit manifestation of additional reforms.

Layla al-Jihni is one of several Saudi women novelists whose work has risen to prominence since the 1990s. She writes in a surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness style that features interior monologues and psychological introspection. Her work is published abroad, but on the basis of interviews I conducted with Saudi women, it is accessible in-country. Although al-Jihni is not an activist, and her works do not directly engage matters of policy, her reasons for writing are more than aesthetic and transcend the ‘art for art';s sake’ ethic. Discourse is a source of power and influence, and al-Jihni';s fiction contributes to this discourse in ways calculated to broaden the scope of choice for women in Saudi Arabian society.

In the post-9/11 period, the Saudi state faced mounting pressure to appropriate the rhetoric of reform and introduce a series of reformist measures and promises, although none posed a serious challenge to the rule of the Āl Saʿūd. This involved the opening of the public sphere to quasi-independent civil society associations, limited municipal elections, and a relatively free press. Reform of the royal house, aimed at dealing with possible future problematic succession to the throne, was also part of a general trend. This article deals with state-initiated reforms the objective of which was to modernize authoritarian rule without risking the loss of too much power to the constituency.

This paper gives a detailed, insider's look into the history and intricacies of the royal politics of the Āl Saﺀūd examining the factors that characterize and define the course of modern Saudi Arabia from tribal affiliations to Wahhābī muṭāwﺩah and muftis . The author examines the internal power struggles amidst the famous ‘Sudeiri Seven’ and their rival claimants to the throne as well as repercussions of the system and its underpinnings on the population as a whole. Oil, power‐politics, alliances with the United States and the particular means and apparatuses of control emanating from the Najd all factor in a regime that has marginalized significant sectors of society from inhabitants of the Ḥijāz to the Shīﺀah of the Eastern Province and which may or may not survive the effects of a population boom and high unemployment that coincide with an ever‐increasing number of claimants to a rule predicated on the ‘custodianship’ of Islam's two holiest cities.