Politics and Society in Saudi Arabia: The Crucial Years of Development, 1960-1982

by Sarah Yizraeli

Overview

This book provides readers with the essential context and background for a real understanding of modern Saudi Arabia. Yizraeli examines a rarely-studied topic: Saudi royal family decision-making in the process of building a modern state. She tracks in detail the internal deliberations in the formative years of development in the Kingdom, when priorities were defined. This unique strategy was first formulated by the royal family in a document known as the "Ten Point Programme," which was delivered in a speech (Nov. 1962) by Crown Prince Faysal. In practice, this strategy placed severe limitations on potential social change and thwarted any reform of the political system that might have been expected had such development been carried out by more western-oriented countries. While Saudi Arabia today tries to mend past errors, particularly in its educational system, the fundamentals of the regime have remained as they were shaped during the formative decades of development. Whether Saudi Arabia will be able to modernise its society without social and religious upheaval still remains to be seen, but the course this modernisation takes will be determined by the events outlined in this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199327553
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/03/2012
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sarah Yizraeli is Senior Research Fellow, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies Tel Aviv University.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Transliteration
Abbreviations
Introduction
Political and economic background
Inherent constraints and their impact on the development process
Western theories and their relevance to an analysis of Saudi historical development

PART ONE: THE BOUNDARIES OF DEVELOPMENT
1. The Political Debate over the Development Issue in the 1950s and 1960s
Absence of a coherent development plan
Factionalization in the royal family
The position of the religious leaders
The input of Aramco and the US administrations

2. Contributions to Saudi Development by Oil, Aramco and the US Government
A convergence of interests
Aramco's oil production policy
Saudi Arabia's impetus for the control of its oil
Aramco's contribution to community development in the
Eastern Region
The contribution of Aramco and the US government to
Saudi Arabia's overall development

3. The Ruling Partnership between the House of SaÄòud and the
Religious Leadership: Impact on the Development Process
The royal family and the Äòulama: an historic alliance
Siyasa SharÄòiyya: the cornerstone of the alliance
The struggle over Islamic authenticity
The Äòulama decide: sanctioning the development process

4. The Royal Family's Development Policy
Development and the rentier state
The Ten-Point Programme: a defining document
Stalling political reform
Commitment to social change
The principles of the development policy shaped by Faysal

5. Outlines of the Economic Development Policy
The debate over the pace of economic development
Faysal's guiding role in moulding the development strategy
Adherence to a balanced budget
Integration of the royal family's expenses in the budgetary framework
Gradual emergence of the economic development policy
The five-year plans
Petrochemical industries
The private sector

PART TWO: SOCIETY IN FLUX
6. The Impact of Economic Development on Demography
Population growth
Rapid urbanization
Settling the nomads
The demographic revolution

7. The Religious Establishment Reinforces its Hold on Society
Dominance of Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh (1953 -.Äì69)
The revival of the collective leadership
The legal system: maintaining the primacy of the ShariÄòa and Fiqh
The religious policeÄîthe commission for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice

8. The Struggle over Education
Milestones in the development of the education system
Aramco's contribution in the field of education
The creation of an Education Ministry
The role of the five-year development plans
Religious education
Technical education
Girls' education
Teacher training
Higher education
The battle over modern education: the religious establishment vs. modern general education

9. Trends in Social Stratification
The impact of the welfare state on social stratification
The entrenchment of the royal family as the political and economic elite
The shift in the economic elite
The emergence of a new middle class

10. A Society on the Defensive
Aramco's role in the kingdom's development
The Saudi development strategy
Defensive change
The rise in status and influence of the religious establishment

APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The reasons Saudi Arabia became the authoritarian US client state we know today ... is the subject of Sarah Yizraeli s revelatory new study. Yizraeli has managed to penetrate Saudi society from afar in ways that have eluded journalists and scholars with more direct access. Although she is apparently barred from entering Saudi Arabia as an Israeli citizen, she has long had a following among specialists for her mastery of obscure Saudi and international source material. Significantly, she focuses not on the much-studied decades since 1979 but on the largely neglected preceding era. Intricate in its accumulation of detail and nuance, the story Yizraeli tells is nevertheless stark in its conclusions."—New York Review of Books

"A very useful examination of an important period in Saudi history ... Recommended." — Choice

"Yizraeli's tour de force deftly illustrates how the complex interplay between the royal family, Aramco, the US government, and the religious establishment directly affected the course of Saudi development. She gives the reader what amounts to an insider's view—though she is far from one. This is a shining example of what judicious scholarship can do."—Joshua Teitelbaum, Professor of Middle Eastern History, Bar-Ilan University, and author of Political Liberalization in the Persian Gulf

"Politics and Society in Saudi Arabia is a very detailed and accurate description of a time in Saudi Arabia's history that has shaped the country up until today. The book is a fascinating account of a key period in Saudia Arabia's history and is also relevant to understanding Saudi Arabia's role in current events in the Middle East... recommended for anyone interested in the politics of Saudi Arabia and the House of Sa'ud." — Asian Affairs

From the Publisher