Is it always good to be King? Saudi regime resilience after the 2011 Arab popular uprisings

Although all Arab monarchies (Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Jordan and Morocco) witnessed varying degrees of mass protest during the Arab uprisings of 2011, none of the kings and princes has thus far been deposed. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia saw pockets of sporadic protest in many cities in the early months of 2011, but those failed to evolve into a mass protest movement across the country. This paper analyses the conditions that helped maintain Saudi stability, attributing it to a combination of domestic and regional factors. This paper highlights how the conditions that led to monarchical resilience over the last five years may result in unexpected upheavals in the future

King Salman and his son: Winning the US losing the rest

This article assesses the prospects for new directions in Saudi foreign policy following the appointment of Muhammad ibn Salman as crown prince in June 2017, highlighting its continuities and discontinuities under the new leadership of King Salman and his son. It draws tentative conclusions that amidst a series of foreign policy failures, winning the favour of the US under Trump has been the major achievement of the new Saudi leadership. However, Saudi foreign policy in Europe has taken a back seat, where there are serious doubts as to the merit of the assertive interventionist Saudi regional policy. With an erratic and failing bid to control the region and emerge as a regional power on a par with Iran, Turkey and Israel, King Salman and his son have proved to be unwilling to extinguish the many fires that are currently raging across the Arab world

Divine politics reconsidered: Saudi Islamists on peaceful revolution

Focusing on mutations of Saudi Islamism during the Arab uprisings, this paper examines the responses of Salman al-Awdah, one of the most influential Saudi Islamist scholars. As he reflects on peaceful revolution in the Arab world, al-Awdah combines his Salafi heritage with insights from western thought, thus producing a hybrid discourse that engages with the inevitability of political change. I argue that al-Awdah goes beyond the two now well-known Islamist strategies, namely jihadi militant struggle and Salafi acquiescent positions, that dominated debate in Saudi Arabia for several decades. His treatise on peaceful revolution offers a ‘third way’ between these two binary opposites. I assess whether a new Islamism that values peaceful action and mobilisation in the pursuit of political change has already reached maturity in Saudi Arabia

From research to the mainstream - Judging the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding

As nominations for this year’s prize open, Madawi Al-Rasheed reflects on the experience of judging the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding and considers how research based non-fiction writing can reach beyond local and disciplinary concerns to engage global audiences

A new diaspora of Saudi exiles: challenging repression from abroad

Although Saudi Arabia has generated waves of exiles throughout its modern history, the recent diaspora is different in its diversity, demographic profile and aspirations. The repression that accompanied the rise of current Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has pushed feminists, young students, secularists, Islamists and others to flee the country in search of safe havens in the US, Europe, Canada and Australia. Based on ethnographic research across several diaspora locations, this paper traces the diversity of the young cohort of exiles who are currently seeking to counter domestic repression from abroad. It focuses on digital activism, for example Twitter, that is also used by the regime to amplify its popularity and propaganda. From abroad, exiles try to counter regime narratives about promised prosperity, freedoms and opportunities. As social media has become more controlled and even dangerous for critics at home, exiles insert their voices to assert their rights as citizens, hoping that this activism will put pressure on the regime to allow political participation. Exiles also began to institutionalise opposition to the regime through the creation of several institutions in the diaspora. The paper surveys a sample of such institutions that serve the immediate needs of the diaspora and create solidarity across generations and locations. The paper assesses the challenges and prospects for the success of political activism from abroad

Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic Voices from a New Generation

The terms Wahhabi or Salafi are seen as interchangeable and frequently misunderstood by outsiders. However, as Madawi al-Rasheed explains in a fascinating exploration of Saudi Arabia in the twenty-first century, even Saudis do not agree on their meaning. Under the influence of mass education, printing, new communication technology, and global media, they are forming their own conclusions and debating religion and politics in traditional and novel venues, often violating official taboos and the conservative values of the Saudi society. Drawing on classical religious sources, contemporary readings and interviews, Al-Rasheed presents an ethnography of consent and contest, exploring the fluidity of the boundaries between the religious and political. Bridging the gap between text and context, the author also examines how states and citizens manipulate religious discourse for purely political ends, and how this manipulation generates unpredictable reactions whose control escapes those who initiated them