Product Description

Heightened fears of terrorism, surging oil prices, and an unsettled Middle East have meant that Saudi Arabia has once again become the focus of international concern. The accession of King Abdullah in 2005 comes at a key moment in the country's history. The tensions between the Kingdom's regional and global roles intertwine with the dilemmas being faced at home. But for most outside observers, the country remains stubbornly opaque. This volume is the first to bring together in a systematic way such a wide range of expertise in a tightly integrated project representing the state of the art, drawing on the insights of an exceptional cast of leading scholars from Europe, the US and the Middle East. In a set of original and interlocking studies, contemporary trends in Saudi politics, society, economy and international relations are examined, exploring their roots as well as likely future development, in the light of 'September 11,' the Iraq crisis, and changing global politics. The book integrates first-hand empirical investigation with the social science tools of politics, political economy and international relations - thus illuminating wider theoretical questions in these fields. The multiplicity of perspectives and areas of expertise brought to bear on the subject allows a balanced understanding to emerge of Saudi Arabia's dynamics, challenges, and responses.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149620 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 462 pages

Review
'Saudi Arabia in the Balance is far and away the best book on the politics of contemporary Saudi Arabia. The contributors are serious, long-time students of the country; many have spent considerable time there. They engage the issues roiling Saudi politics with depth, sophistication and an attention to detail that is commendable. They represent a spectrum of views on the country, but grind no ideological axes. In all, it is the perfect antidote to the rash of shallow and sensationalist books on Saudi Arabia in recent years. It should be in the library of everyone interested in Saudi Arabia; it will certainly be in mine.' -- F. Gregory Gause, University of Vermont 'Although 9/11 has led to an increase in books published on Saudi Arabia, most are sensationalist and add relatively little to our understanding. This effort brings forth a welcome and breathtaking burst of new knowledge. There is no volume today that contains so much useful material.' --Joshua Teitelbaum, author of The Rise and Fall of the Hashemite Kingdom of Arabia

From the Inside Flap
‘Saudi Arabia in the Balance is far and away the best book on the politics of contemporary Saudi Arabia. The contributors are serious, long-time students of the country; many have spent considerable time there. They engage the issues roiling Saudi politics with depth, sophistication and an attention to detail that is commendable. They represent a spectrum of views on the country, but grind no ideological axes. In all, it is the perfect antidote to the rash of shallow and sensationalist books on Saudi Arabia in recent years. It should be in the library of everyone interested in Saudi Arabia; it will certainly be in mine.’
– F. Gregory Gause, University of Vermont

‘Although 9/11 has led to an increase in books published on Saudi Arabia, most are sensationalist and add relatively little to our understanding. This effort brings forth a welcome and breathtaking burst of new knowledge. There is no volume today that contains so much useful material.’ —Joshua Teitelbaum, author of The Rise and Fall of the Hashemite Kingdom of Arabia

About the Author
Paul Aarts is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, and has published widely on the politics of the Middle East. Gerd Nonneman is Reader in International Relations and Middle East Politics, University of Lancaster, and a former Executive Director of the British Society of Middle Eastern Studies. He has published a large number of books and articles on the Middle East, most recently Analyzing Middle East Foreign Policies.

Customer Reviews

An excellent volume on an often misunderstood subject
This is a seminal volume. The editors managed to bring together a group of the best scholars of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and, something even more arduous, to make them stick to the research questions that are highlighted in the introductory chapter. Therefore, even if every scholar approaches the subject from his or her disciplinary point of view the focus still remains on the central themes selected by the editors. These are ‘Ideology and Change’, ‘Political Economy’, ‘Regime and Opposition’ and ‘External Relations’. Overall, the authors do an excellent job in analyzing the threats and opportunities faced by the Saudi regime and Saudi society today.
In a publishing panorama pullulating with instant books about the Kingdom the reader will find here a volume that examines Saudi Arabia in all its complexity. It is noteworthy that the authors manage to offer a serious and rigorous analysis while not pulling any punches when it comes to shedding light on the threats faced by the Saudi regime. Most authors writing on Saudi Arabia take either an uncompromising (and uninformed) stance or a sycophantic approach. All the authors in the volume to their merit eschew both as they illuminate the different facets of Saudi government and society.
The book is aimed at an academic public and this is demonstrated by both the serious scholarly apparatus and the rigorous theoretical approach that the authors adopt in their contributions. The theory here, though, helps to illuminate instead of obfuscating the subject matter, something that unfortunately is not always the case when it comes to Middle East studies. This said, any educated reader, and to a greater extent policy analyst, will find this volume precious in understanding a country that is too often either criticized a priori or praised sycophantically.

Essential book for any serious bookshelf!
I wholeheartedly agree with the previous reviewer, from the position of a post-graduate student studying the middle east,there is a serious amount of obfuscation involved with studying the middle east, excerbated especially in relatively 'closed' societies such as Saudi Arabia. I applaud all the contributors efforts that whilst getting to grips with their individual topics present a unified work that is insightful for anyone from a scholar or to a generally interested member of the public. My only criticism is that in establishing each authors arguments there does tend to be an inevitable repitition, and certain normative concepts that are contested in Political Theory (e.g 'legitimacy') are assumed rather than tackled as being value-laden judgements that are ineluctably dervied from a more European experience of political modernity.