Saudi Arabia: A prince’s revolution

Abstract

Over the past decades, the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council have emerged as the leaders of the Middle East and North Africa region. They have also proved to be the safest Arab allies for the EU due to their stability and prosperity, despite being the only regimes in the region whose leaders are not elected by universal direct suffrage. In recent months, Saudi Arabia, in particular, has been anxious to re-establish its leadership in the region through disruptive structural changes. Even though it remains difficult to make sense of these reforms, many analysts have speculated about their purported future relevance. This article argues that the changes undermine the social contract that has prevailed in the kingdom for decades, whereby citizens enjoy material comfort in exchange for their loyalty to the regime. Thus these changes threaten to destabilise the country, with potential lasting effects on the region and collateral consequences for Europe.

From Domestic to Public: The Construction of Women's Empowerment Discourse in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030

“…The initiator of Saudi Vision 2030, Muhammad bin Salman is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia who was previously appointed by King Salman as Minister of Defense of the Kingdom at the age of 29. On June 21, 2017, King Salman announced that he had appointed Muhammad bin Salman as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who would replace him in the future (Chara, 2018;Cochran, 2019). This strategic position provides great influence and power for Muhammad bin Salman to oversee and make the implementation of Vision 2030 a success (Habibi, 2019).…”

“…In other words, the highest authority in making socio-religious policies can be exercised by MBS without being influenced by the Wahhabi clerics who have had the authority to control the socio-religious sphere in Saudi. In this way, MBS indirectly reduces the authority of religious authorities in controlling the social and religious behavior of society (Chara, 2018).…”

“…Although Saudi Arabian ulama were previously able to freely issue legal fatwas regulating the role of women because they had the authority to control religious, social, and cultural affairs in Saudi Arabia (Al-Atawneh, 2009;Yamani, 2009) however, during the reign of King Salman and Muhammad bin Salman the authority of Wahhabi ulama was increasingly reduced. Reforms that lead to the granting of freedom to women show that indirectly the kingdom has taken over the authority of the ulama in determining moral rules in society, especially those related to women's empowerment (Chara, 2018). In other words, there is a shift in state policy in granting authority to ulama.…”