Every culture is governed by an internal code of conduct, and this publication captures the code of Saudi culture. Most Saudi norms have long been unwritten and only orally communicated among citizens. As a result, visitors to the country have been unable to read about these norms. For this reason, this book spells out these norms in bold print. It provides bite-sized descriptions of ‘the Saudi’. It is informed by around 2,000 interviews with Saudis and expats. It is the first to talk about the culture in a purely descriptive (and therefore non-judgemental) manner. Writings about Saudi culture tend to be too serious; however, this publication is meant not to be taken too seriously. It is, rather, intended to be entertaining (and, surely, informative). It is written mostly on the toilet (and is, likewise, meant to be read on the toilet). It avoids being biased, recording both ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ norms. It tries to avoid using such sensitive words as ‘religion’ and ‘politics’, considering that it is written entirely for cultural orientation (not for religious or political matters). The book is the first to be written by a male Saudi who was born and raised in the country, who is still based there, who is a former officially-recognised ‘imam’ (i.e. a worship leader) and who comes from a working-class family. Yet, he is a traveller, professor and Oxford graduate. He has been with people from different ethnicities. He has published in different languages and with globally known publishers. Hence, he has shown an ability to communicate with international readers and convey information to foreign mentalities.

This work sets out a series of rules meant as guidelines to live by and behave properly among Saudis and/or to understand their culture. Most of these rules have long been unwritten and only verbally communicated among Saudis. As a result, visitors to Saudi Arabia have been unable to follow these rules appropriately. Those interested in Saudis or their civilisation have reported neither understanding nor recognising these rules. For such reasons, these rules need to be spelled out in bold print. This publication has been written to respond to this need, as well as to inform a broad audience on the nature of gender roles and relations in this country. Every culture is governed by an internal code of conduct, and this work offers the first written code of Saudi society. It is the product of close observations of daily activities and more than 2,000 interviews with nationals and residents, over the past four years. This code shows 666 (often previously unrecorded) rules on how the human body should act inside Saudi Arabia. It covers everything from top to bottom; the face, eyes, ears, mouth, extremities and genitals. These rules must be carefully considered if one wishes to stay within the circle of Saudis. This is the first English-language piece to talk about Saudi culture in a purely descriptive (and thus non-judgemental and unbiased) manner and to deliver the voices of working-class and lower-middle-class Saudi men and women who are normally disregarded by the global media (which have a bias towards the opinions of Saudi activists and elites). It is the first English-language piece to be written by a qualitative and therefore detail-oriented researcher, providing both in-depth and broad views into the various elements of Saudi culture, covering small details within Saudis' public and private lives. It is the first English-language piece to be written by a Saudi who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, who is still based in this country, who is a former formally-recognised imam and who comes from a working-class family?yet has travelled the world, is married to a non-Muslim European, studied in Oxford, published with the largest international academic publishers and hence has the ability to communicate with foreign mentalities. It is the first English-language piece to present Saudi values and norms in the form of a bullet-pointed list, and to analyse and set out the internal code of conduct that governs those living in Saudi society (considering that every culture is governed by an internal code of conduct). It is the first English-language piece to have both academic and non-academic elements, in the sense that, although it is based on academic research and follows academic conventions, its findings are presented in a simplified way and in plain language.

Although the position of Saudi women within society draws media attention throughout the world, young Saudi men remain part of a silent mass, their thoughts and views rarely heard outside of the Kingdom. Based on primary research across Saudi Arabia with young men from a diverse range of backgrounds, Mark C. Thompson allows for this distinct group of voices to be heard, revealing their opinions and attitudes towards the societal and economic transformations affecting their lives within a gender-segregated society and examining the challenges and dilemmas facing young Saudi men in the twenty-first century. From ideas and beliefs about, identity, education, employment, marriage prospects and gender segregation, as well as political participation and exclusion, this study in turn invites us to reconsider the future of Saudi Arabia as a globalized kingdom.

Global history records an astonishing variety of forms of social organization. Yet almost universally, males subordinate females. How does the relationship between men and women shape the wider political order? The First Political Order is a groundbreaking demonstration that the persistent and systematic subordination of women underlies all other institutions, with wide-ranging implications for global security and development. Incorporating research findings spanning a variety of social science disciplines and comprehensive empirical data detailing the status of women around the globe, the book shows that female subordination functions almost as a curse upon nations. A society’s choice to subjugate women has significant negative consequences: worse governance, worse conflict, worse stability, worse economic performance, worse food security, worse health, worse demographic problems, worse environmental protection, and worse social progress. Yet despite the pervasive power of social and political structures that subordinate women, history—and the data—reveal possibilities for progress. The First Political Order shows that when steps are taken to reduce the hold of inequitable laws, customs, and practices, outcomes for all improve. It offers a new paradigm for understanding insecurity, instability, autocracy, and violence, explaining what the international community can do now to promote more equitable relations between men and women and, thereby, security and peace. With comprehensive empirical evidence of the wide-ranging harm of subjugating women, it is an important book for security scholars, social scientists, policy makers, historians, and advocates for women worldwide.

This is the second volume of the Proceedings of The Migration Conference 2020. The Migration Conference 2020 was held online due to COVID-19 Pandemic and yet, in over 80 parallel sessions and plenaries key migration debates saw nearly 500 experts from around the world engaging. This collection contains contributions mainly dealing with migration and integration debates. These are only a subset of all presentations from authors who chose to submit full short papers for publication after the conference. Most of the contributions are work in progress and unedited versions. The next migration conference is going to be hosted by Ming-Ai Institute in London, UK. Looking forward to continuing the debates on human mobility after the Pandemic. | www.migrationconference.net | @migrationevent | fb.me/MigrationConference | Email: [email protected]