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.

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]

CHAPTER 1. Understanding policy in immigration by Simeon S. Magliveras | CHAPTER 2. Criminalized and vulnerable: Refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand and Malaysia by Jera Lego | CHAPTER 3. The Japanese asylum policies: The informal asylum of Syrians in Japan by Yahya Almasri | CHAPTER 4. Making diaspora policies without knowing the diaspora? The case of Sri Lanka by Pavithra Jayawardena | CHAPTER 5. Transiting into the Singaporean identity: Immigration and naturalisation policy by Mathews Mathew and Debbie Soon | CHAPTER 6. Narratives of trauma across generations of Pontic Greeks and their impact on national identity by Georgia Lagoumitzi | CHAPTER 7. Immigration agents in Bahrain: an exploration of the immigration policy nexus by Simeon S. Magliveras.