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Saudi Arabia

Country on the Arabian peninsula, stretching from the Red Sea in the west to the Gulf in the east, bounded north by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait; east by Qatar and United Arab Emirates; southeast by Oman; and south by Yemen.

Government

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no written constitution, no legislature, and no political parties. The king rules, in accordance with Islamic law (Shari'a), by decree. He appoints and heads a council of ministers, whose decisions are the result of a majority vote but always subject to the ultimate sanction of the king. The king is chosen by leading members of the royal family from among themselves and must retain a consensus of the royal family and religious leaders (ulema). Since 1992 there has been a 90-member consultative council, the Majlis al-Shura, which is appointed every four years. Municipal elections took place in 2005 and may be the first tentative step towards the introduction of democratic processes.

History

For early history, see Arabia. The Saudi state began in central Arabia in the mid-18th century, when a local ruler, Muhammad bin Saud, became allied with the Islamic reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Saud family contested with Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, which controlled the sultanate of Nejd in the interior, for control over the area. Present-day Saudi Arabia is almost entirely the creation of King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud who captured Riyadh in 1902 and, after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, fought rival Arab rulers until, in 1926, he had established himself as the undisputed king of the Hejaz and sultan of Nejd. In each of these provinces he appointed one of his sons as viceroy, though Asir had a separate administration. There were three ministers, for foreign affairs, defence, and finance. In Riyadh and Mecca and in other places there were councils of notables. In 1932 Nejd and Hejaz became the United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Asir was incorporated in 1934.

Despite the fact that the majority of the population are Sunni Muslims (with a Shiite minority), the country since unification has been dominated by the puritanical Muslim Wahabi sect. Under the leadership of successive kings, the Wahabis keep the holy places and control the pilgrimage to Mecca, and are responsible for the country's very strict legal and social codes.

Oil wealth

Soon after the integration of Saudi Arabia oil was discovered, and Ibn Saud granted exploration and drilling rights to various US oil companies. Oil was first produced in commercial quantities in 1938, realizing large sums in royalties and added greatly to the kingdom's revenue, although in 1952 the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency, a modified form of state bank, was set up in an attempt to keep the country solvent, because the extravagant demands of members of the royal family outstripped the revenue. Oil transformed the country and has continued to be the basis of the country's great prosperity.

Foreign relations up to the 1960s

In 1936 Ibn Saud formed alliances with Iraq and Egypt. In World War II Saudi Arabia remained nominally neutral until March 1945 when it came in on the side of the Allies. In the same year the Arab League (League of Arab States) was formed, with Saudi Arabia as a leading member.

Thereafter relations with the West deteriorated for a period, although traditionally relations with the West, especially Britain and the USA, have been among the best of any Arab country. Saudi Arabia was involved in a quarrel with Britain over the boundary of Muscat and Oman that led to fighting in the disputed Buraimi Oasis area. The country also rejected US military aid, and aligned its defence policy with Egypt, which it supported in the Suez Crisis in 1956. Relations with the West were further strained when Saudi Arabia made use of the income from US oil concessions to sponsor international anti-Western propaganda.

The reign of King Faisal

Ibn Saud died in November 1953 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Crown Prince Saud (1902–69). Some modernizing of the government was initiated but the king was profligate, and in 1958 Saud's half-brother Faisal became the effective leader of the country. Tensions developed with Egypt. Saud was deposed in favour of Faisal in November 1964, and he took refuge for a time in Egypt, with which Saudi Arabia was by this time in direct conflict through the civil war in Yemen in which Saudi Arabia backed the royalists.

After the 1967 Arab–Israeli War Saudi Arabia gave economic aid to Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. An abortive coup was foiled in 1969, and in the east relations were developed with Iran to establish stability in the Gulf after the British withdrawal from the area in 1971. While the country was kept tightly within traditional strictness, its global standing increased through the presence of the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the enormous growth in earnings from oil, the close alliance with Egypt, and respect for King Faisal. Relations with the West deteriorated again during the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, and Saudi Arabia, by now the leading Arab oil producer, led in the use of oil as a crucial political weapon. It participated in an Arab oil boycott of the USA. As a member of Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC), it joined in pushing up oil prices. This greatly increased its wealth and political influence.

In March 1975 Faisal was assassinated by a nephew, and his half-brother, Khalid, succeeded him. Khalid was in failing health and increasingly relied on his half-brother Fahd to perform the duties of government. Khalid died in 1982 and was succeeded by Fahd. Under King Fahd, Saudi Arabia adjusted to falling oil revenues, as world oil prices fell, but also became active in Middle East affairs developing, with five other Persian Gulf states, a Gulf Cooperation Council to promote regional economic cooperation and peaceful development.

Middle East affairs

Saudi Arabia gave financial support to Iraq in its 1980–88 war with Iran and played an important part in bringing about a ceasefire in August 1988. This war also prompted Saudi Arabia to buy advanced missiles from the USA. Islamic fundamentalists staged demonstrations in Mecca in 1979 and 1987, leading to violence and worsening relations with Iran. In 1989 Saudi Arabia also assumed a leading role in the search for a settlement of the Lebanese civil war, hosting a constitutional convention of Lebanese legislators in Taif. In November 1991, Saudi Arabia was one of the main participants in the historic Middle East peace conference in Spain.

Participation in the Gulf War

In August 1990 the security of Saudi Arabia was threatened when Iraq invaded and occupied neighbouring Kuwait. King Fahd turned to the USA and UK for assistance allowing US and other coalition soldiers to be stationed in Saudi Arabia to counter the Iraqi threat, although this angered many Muslims. A massive build-up of ground and air strength began, alongside Saudi Arabia's own forces, culminating in the Gulf War of 1991 and Iraq's forced withdrawal from Kuwait. In return, King Fahd agreed to increase his oil output to offset the loss of Kuwaiti and Iraqi production, and to pay a substantial part of the cost of maintaining US and British forces. During the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia served as the staging ground for the air and ground assaults on Iraqi forces. The country was hit by Iraqi missile strikes but suffered no serious damage. However, the war is estimated to have cost Saudi Arabia $60,000 million.

Concerns over Islamic militancy

In May 1991 religious leaders demanded the creation of a consultative council to assist in the government of the kingdom and the Majlis al-Shura was formed in 1992.

In October 1994 the government announced a crackdown on Islamic militants, appointing a Higher Council for Islamic Affairs as an ‘ombudsman of Islamic activity in education, economic, and foreign policy’.

In September 2001, Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, in response to the 11 September terrorist attacks on the USA, believed to have been orchestrated by the Afghanistan-based terrorist leader Osama bin Laden who was born in Saudi Arabia and who had declared holy war on the USA in vengeance against its stationing of troops in Saudi Arabia. Since 1995, Islamic militants have launched terrorist attacks inside Saudi Arabia and from 2003, militants linked to bin Laden's al-Qaeda have been involved in an insurgency, targeting foreigners in Saudi Arabia.

New king

In August 2005, King Fahd died and was succeeded by his brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, who had handled day-to-day government activities for several years.