Saudi Arabia has undergone a rapid social and economic transformation. When Ibn Saud declared the nation a unified kingdom in 1932, the majority of its population was nomadic and lived in a state of poverty or semi-poverty. Now the processes of modernisation, financed by the exploitation of the country’s vast oil reserves, have produced a prosperous and predominantly urban population. However, this social change has not been without its tensions; the emergence of a rising middle class has called into question the monopoly of power of the House of Saud, its involvement in the kingdom’s economy and its oil and foreign policy, while the rapid urbanisation of the rural population has eroded the traditional social structures and has not solved, but in some cases promoted, social division. This book, first published in 1988, explores the recent history of the Saudi oil state in an analysis of the struggle for social and political power in modern Saudi Arabia.

Syrian-Saudi relations have been a paradox in inter-Arab politics during the oil era. Commentators and analysts have questioned why the two states pursued mutually conflicting aims in almost every major regional or international foreign policy issue and often propagated contrasting ideological banners over the past thirty years; while both acting as though some form of an alignment existed between them? Here, Sonoko Sunayama explores the logic behind the paradoxical longevity of this cooperative relationship and argues that what ultimately makes Saudis and Syrians so indispensable to each other is the perception and the historical appeal of 'shared identities', be they Arabism or Islam.

The MERI Reports on the Middle East quickly established themselves as the most authoritative and up-to-date information on the state of affairs in the region. This study, focusing on Saudi Arabia was fist published in 1985, provides vital analysis of the political and economic issues affecting the country. It combines a crisp and incisive survey of the politics and economy of the country, as well as providing statistical material on all the key data of the political economy. 1. Background 2. Political Analysis 3. Economic Analysis 4. Saudi Arabian Statistical Appendix

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.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most controversial and least known of the Arab nations. A land of massive contrasts – between its densely populated cities and its vast expanses of desert; between the recent poverty of its villages and the massive wealth created by oil, which is drawing a labour force from most of the neighbouring countries; between the aggressive technocratic and industrial thrust forward and the strongly traditionalist Islamic basis of the ruling ideologies – it has progressed to world prominence in a matter of years after centuries of little or no change. The change is not so much a surge, or even a thrust, as a rush into the industrialized and wealthy world. This book analyzes the problems and achievements of Saudi development and provides the first detailed critique of the Third Development Plan. First published in 1982.

Saudi Arabia is no longer regarded as quite the invincible pillar of Islam it so recently seemed. Its authority within the Islamic world has been challenged by the Ayatollahs in Iran and its dominant position within Opec has been seriously eroded. Most importantly, the dramatic assault on the Mosque at Mecca has raised serious doubts about the internal security of the Saudi regime. This study provides essential background to the contemporary problems of Saudi Arabia in its focus on the early years of the Saudi state and the way in which King Abd al-Aziz first created a nation state and asserted his family's authority. It agues that the geography of Central Arabia was a crucial factor in determining how he fused together the Bedouin tribes and the settled communities into a political entity. First published in 1981 and based on extensive new research data, this is the first study to examine more than simply a political or diplomatic history of Saudi Arabia, and concerns itself with the attitudes and perceptions of the Arabs themselves towards political initiatives of that period.

This much-revised edition of Professor Abir's Saudi Arabia in the Oil Era now includes consideration of both Gulf Wars. Abir examines the social and political forces that have shaped Saudi Arabia, including the impact of Islam and of Westernization, drawing heavily on Saudi sources. There is also essential analysis of regional security dilemmas and of the country's prospects in the post-Gulf War era.