State, Society and Economy in Saudi Arabia (RLE Saudi Arabia)

Tim Niblock

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781138846371
• eBook ISBN: 9781317539964
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Saudi Arabia is one of the most important countries in the modern world. Not only does it possess some 25 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves, it also plays a crucial role in the wider Gulf region where over 50 per cent of proven reserves are located. Developments in Saudi Arabia will inevitably affect the economic well-being of the Western industrialised world, Japan and much of the Third World. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is ruled in a traditional way by an all-powerful king and royal family, and is one of the key countries of Islam, the Holy City of Mecca being within the country's boundaries. The inroad of modern Western forces into this traditional Islamic society is underlined by the fact that may key posts are filled with imported Western workers. This book, first published in 1982, containing contributions by the world's leading Middle Eastern experts, provides a comprehensive overview of important social, political and economic developments in Saudi Arabia. The opening chapters consider the formation of the Saudi State, and the bulk of the book surveys key themes such as political opposition, the oil industry, energy policy, banking, external relations and the future direction of development.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Original Title
• Original Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables and Figures
• Preface
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Ideological Basis: Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's Muslim Revivalism
• 3. The Precarious Monarchy: Britain, Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud and the Establishment of the Kingdom of Hijaz, Najd and its Dependencies, 1925–1932
• 4. King Abd al-Aziz's Changing Relationship with the Gulf States during the 1930s
• 5. Social Structure and the Development of the Saudi Arabian Political System
• 6. Secular and Religious Opposition in Saudi Arabia
• 7. A Curious and Close Liaison: Saudi Arabia's Relations with the United States
• 8. Aspects of Saudi Arabia's Relations with other Gulf States
• 9. Social Change in Modern Saudi Arabia
• 10. Sedentarisation as a Means of Detribalisation: Some Policies of the Saudi Arabian Government Towards the Nomads
• 11. The Domestic Political Economy of Development in Saudi Arabia
• 12. Saudi Arabia's Oil Policy in the 1970s — its Origins, Implementation and Implications
• 13. The Saudi Arabian Petrochemical Industry: its Rationale and Effectiveness
• 14. The Evolution of the Saudi Banking System and its Relationship with Bahrain
• Appendix: Opening Remarks of Abdullah Al Saud to the Symposium on State, Economy and Power in Saudi Arabia, Centre for Arab Gulf Studies, University of Exeter, 4—7 July 1980
• Glossary of Arabic Terms Used in the Text
• List of Contributors
• Index