Abstract
The stability of Saudi Arabia is largely determined by the nature of its political system, which is, in large part, centered on the ruling Al Saud family. While ruling family politics in the Kingdom share many characteristics with other hereditary monarchies, it is unique in a number of aspects. The family’s sheer size and complexity, in terms of both its internal structure and composition and its connections to Saudi society, make the Saudi political system markedly different from other past and present monarchies.1 In addition, family politics have developed in the context of vast wealth and profound transformations that have altered the face of Saudi Arabia, perhaps permanently. Thus, it is on this basis that family politics is analyzed with an emphasis on determining the interplay between politics and policy on the one hand, and the balance between cohesive and disintegrative forces within the family on the other. These implications for Saudi behavior have a direct bearing on Saudi stability.
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Notes
For a good discussion of the Al Saud ruling family see David Holden and Richard Johns, The House ofSaud: The Rise and Rule of the Most Powerful Dynasty in the Arab World, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981.
David Howarth, The Desert King: The Life of Ibn Saud, London: Quartet Books, 1965, 1980.
See also Muhammad Jalal Kishk, Al-Saudiyyun Wal-Hal Al-Islami [The Saudis and the Islamic Solution], Jeddah: The Saudi Publishing and Distribution House, 1982, especially, pp. 19–55.
Benoist-Mechin, Le Loup et le Leopard: Ibn-Seoud ou la naissance d’un royaume, Paris: Albin Michel, 1955, pp. 467–485.
Abbas R. Kelidar, “The Problem of Succession in Saudi Arabia,” Asian Affairs 9: 1, February 1978, pp. 23–30.
William Powell, Saudi Arabia and Its Royal Family, Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1982, pp. 240–245.
For a more complete list of nominees, see H. St. John Philby, Saûdi Arabia London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1955, pp. 298–358; and Yizraeli, op. cit. pp. 75–82.
Mordechai Abir, Saudi Arabia in the Oil Era: Regime and Elites; Conflict and Collaboration, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1988, pp. 135–139.
For a discussion of the Al Shaykh, see Ayman Al-Yassini, Religion and State in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Boulder and London: Westview Press, 1985, pp. 22–32.
Peter W. Wilson and Douglas F. Graham, Saudi Arabia: The Coming Storm, Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1994, p. 59.
Summer Scott Huyette, Political Adaptation in Saudi Arabia: A Study of the Council of Ministers, Boulder and London: Westview Press, 1985, pp. 57–77.
David E. Long, The United States and Saudi Arabia: Ambivalent Allies, Boulder and London: Westview Press, 1985, pp. 134–145;
see also Parker T. Hart, Saudi Arabia and the United States: Birth of a Security Partnership, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998, pp. 237–247.
Fouad Al-Farsy, Modernity and Tradition: The Saudi Equation, London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1999, pp. 145–171.
Jeffrey Robinson, Yamani: The Inside Story, New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988, pp. 52–55.
See also Geoff Simons, Saudi Arabia: The Shape of a Client Feudalism, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998, pp. 304–306.
Sandra Mackey, The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987, pp. 325–328.
Arnaud de Borchgrave, “Undercutting Fahd,” Newsweek April 23, 1979, pp. 51–52.
Tewfik Mislhawi, “A New Direction,” The Middle East Magazine, number 55, May 1979, pp. 25–28.
Jacob Golberg, “The Saudi Arabian Kingdom,” in Colin Legum (ed.), Middle East Contemporary Survey, Volume 3, 1978–1979, New York and London: Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc., 1980, p. 738.
Mark N. Katz, “External Powers and the Yemeni Civil War,” in Jamal S. alSuwaidi (ed.), The Yemeni War of 1994: Causes and Consequences, London: Saqi Books for the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 1995, pp. 81–93.
Richard Engel, “Saudi Succession Unresolved,” The Washington Times, April 22, 1998.
Youssef M. Ibrahim, “Saudi Crown Prince to Take Over While King Rests,” The New York Times, January 2, 1996, p. A3.
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© 2001 Joseph A. Kechichian
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Kechichian, J.A. (2001). The Current Generation. In: Succession in Saudi Arabia. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780312299620_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780312299620_2
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