Category: Saudi Arabia

Recognizing and countering authoritarian resurgence

     

A new book is warning of an authoritarian surge around the world led by China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, who are using sophisticated methods to silence dissent and… Read more »

Exploiting Disorder: al-Qaeda and the Islamic State

     

  A purely military approach to countering violent jihadist extremism risks entrenching the resentment and victimization of Sunnis and deepening chaos, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group (ICG). The… Read more »

Reform, security and public order in the Middle East

     

The security situation facing the Middle East is grave and appears to be trending toward greater violence and instability, says a new report. The states of the region have tended… Read more »

Muted Modernists? Saudi Islamists ‘campaign for democracy’

     

The Saudi regime watched the 2011 Arab Spring unfold across the Middle East with deep unease. As the year progressed, the regime responded by rounding up moderate Islamists because of… Read more »

Saudis facing similar problems to collapsing Soviet Union

     

Saudi Arabia has ordered the segregation of men and women in local council meetings, in a setback to women’s rights in the ultraconservative kingdom, The Wall Street Journal reports. The… Read more »

Requiem for the Arab Spring

     

  Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution shook the Middle East, setting off the hopeful uprisings that came to be known as the Arab Spring, AFP reports: But five years later, the countries… Read more »

Has Arab Spring mutated into sectarian strife?

     

After Saudi Arabia’s execution of leading Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr sparked a violent protest at the Saudi Embassy in Iran’s capital, Tehran, Saudi Arabia quickly severed ties with its longtime regional… Read more »