After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leadership's objective switched to expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of Transjordan , Iraq and Kuwait , and began raiding those territories. This met with Ibn Saud's opposition, as he recognized the danger of a direct conflict with the British. At the same time, the Ikhwan became disenchanted with Ibn Saud's domestic policies which appeared to favor modernization and the increase in the number of non-Muslim foreigners in the country. As a result, they turned against Ibn Saud and, after a two-year struggle, were defeated in at the Battle of Sabilla , where their leaders were massacred.
The new kingdom was reliant on limited agriculture and pilgrimage revenues. Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally. Cultural life rapidly developed, primarily in the Hejaz, which was the center for newspapers and radio. However, the large influx of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia in the oil industry increased the pre-existing propensity for xenophobia. By the s this had led to large governmental deficits and excessive foreign borrowing. In , Saud of Saudi Arabia succeeded as the king of Saudi Arabia, on his father's death, until when he was deposed in favor of his half brother Faisal of Saudi Arabia , after an intense rivalry, fueled by doubts in the royal family over Saud's competence.
120,000-year-old footprints discovered in Saudi Arabia
Oil prices quadrupled. By , Saudi Arabia had become the largest oil producer in the world. The first was the Iranian Islamic Revolution. It was feared that the country's Shi'ite minority in the Eastern Province which is also the location of the oil fields might rebel under the influence of their Iranian co-religionists.
There were several anti-government uprisings in the region such as the Qatif Uprising. The militants involved were in part angered by what they considered to be the corruption and un-Islamic nature of the Saudi government. Part of the response of the royal family was to enforce a much stricter observance of traditional religious and social norms in the country for example, the closure of cinemas and to give the Ulema a greater role in government.
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In , Saudi Arabia bought out the American interests in Aramco. King Khalid died of a heart attack in June He was succeeded by his brother, King Fahd , who added the title "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" to his name in in response to considerable fundamentalist pressure to avoid use of "majesty" in association with anything except God. Fahd continued to develop close relations with the United States and increased the purchase of American and British military equipment.
The vast wealth generated by oil revenues was beginning to have an even greater impact on Saudi society. It led to rapid technological but not cultural modernization, urbanization, mass public education and the creation of new media. This and the presence of increasingly large numbers of foreign workers greatly affected traditional Saudi norms and values.
Although there was dramatic change in the social and economic life of the country, political power continued to be monopolized by the royal family [80] leading to discontent among many Saudis who began to look for wider participation in government. He invited the Kuwaiti government and many of its citizens to stay in Saudi Arabia, but expelled citizens of Yemen and Jordan because of their governments' support of Iraq.
In , Saudi Arabian forces were involved both in bombing raids on Iraq and in the land invasion that helped to liberate Kuwait. Saudi Arabia's relations with the West began to cause growing concern among some of the ulema and students of sharia law and was one of the issues that led to an increase in Islamist terrorism in Saudi Arabia, as well as Islamist terrorist attacks in Western countries by Saudi nationals. Osama bin Laden was a Saudi citizen until stripped of his citizenship in and was responsible for the U.
Islamism was not the only source of hostility to the government. Although now extremely wealthy, Saudi Arabia's economy was near stagnant. High taxes and a growth in unemployment have contributed to discontent, and has been reflected in a rise in civil unrest, and discontent with the royal family. In response, a number of limited "reforms" were initiated by King Fahd. In March , he introduced the " Basic Law ", which emphasized the duties and responsibilities of a ruler.
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In December , the Consultative Council was inaugurated. It is composed of a chairman and 60 members—all chosen by the King. The King's intent was to respond to dissent while making as few actual changes in the status quo as possible. In , Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke, and the Crown Prince, Abdullah , assumed the role of de facto regent , taking on the day-to-day running of the country. However, his authority was hindered by conflict with Fahd's full brothers known, with Fahd, as the " Sudairi Seven ". Women were not allowed to take part in the poll.
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In , King Fahd died and was succeeded by Abdullah, who continued the policy of minimum reform and clamping down on protests. The king introduced a number of economic reforms aimed at reducing the country's reliance on oil revenue: limited deregulation, encouragement of foreign investment, and privatization. In February , Abdullah announced a series of governmental changes to the judiciary, armed forces, and various ministries to modernize these institutions including the replacement of senior appointees in the judiciary and the Mutaween religious police with more moderate individuals and the appointment of the country's first female deputy minister.
On 29 January , hundreds of protesters gathered in the city of Jeddah in a rare display of criticism against the city's poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through the city, killing 11 people. Since , Saudi Arabia has been affected by its own Arab Spring protests.
Although male-only municipal elections were held on 29 September , [] [] Abdullah allowed women to vote and be elected in the municipal elections , and also to be nominated to the Shura Council. Since , Saudi Arabia has engaged in widespread internet censorship. Most online censorship generally falls into two categories: one based on censoring "immoral" mostly pornographic and LGBT -supportive websites along with websites promoting any religious ideology other than Sunni Islam and one based on a blacklist run by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Media , which primarily censors websites critical of the Saudi regime or associated with parties that are opposed to or opposed by Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. In the absence of national elections and political parties, [] politics in Saudi Arabia takes place in two distinct arenas: within the royal family, the Al Saud, and between the royal family and the rest of Saudi society. By custom, all males of full age have a right to petition the king directly through the traditional tribal meeting known as the majlis.
Tribal identity remains strong and, outside of the royal family, political influence is frequently determined by tribal affiliation, with tribal sheikhs maintaining a considerable degree of influence over local and national events. The rule of the Al Saud faces political opposition from four sources: Sunni Islamist activism; liberal critics; the Shi'ite minority —particularly in the Eastern Province ; and long-standing tribal and regionalist particularistic opponents for example in the Hejaz.
The king combines legislative, executive, and judicial functions [] and royal decrees form the basis of the country's legislation. The royal family dominates the political system.
The family's vast numbers allow it to control most of the kingdom's important posts and to have an involvement and presence at all levels of government. Long term political and government appointments have resulted in the creation of "power fiefdoms" for senior princes, [] such as those of King Abdullah, who had been Commander of the National Guard since until , when he appointed his son to replace him , [] former Crown Prince Sultan , Minister of Defence and Aviation from to his death in , former crown prince Prince Nayef who was the Minister of Interior from to his death in , Prince Saud who had been Minister of Foreign Affairs since [] and current King Salman , who was Minister of Defense and Aviation before he was crown prince and Governor of the Riyadh Province from to The royal family is politically divided by factions based on clan loyalties, personal ambitions and ideological differences.
There were divisions within the family over who should succeed to the throne after the accession or earlier death of Prince Sultan. The Saudi government and the royal family have often, over many years, been accused of corruption. However, nepotism and patronage are widespread when doing business in the country.
The enforcement of the anti-corruption laws is selective and public officials engage in corruption with impunity. A number of prominent Saudi Arabian princes, government ministers, and businesspeople, including Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal , were arrested in Saudi Arabia in November There has been mounting pressure to reform and modernize the royal family's rule, an agenda championed by King Abdullah both before and after his accession in The creation of the Consultative Council in the early s did not satisfy demands for political participation, and, in , an annual National Dialogue Forum was announced that would allow selected professionals and intellectuals to publicly debate current national issues, within certain prescribed parameters.
In , the first municipal elections were held. In , the Allegiance Council was created to regulate the succession. Saudi Arabia is almost unique in giving the ulema the body of Islamic religious leaders and jurists a direct role in government. The ulema have also been a key influence in major government decisions, for example the imposition of the oil embargo in and the invitation to foreign troops to Saudi Arabia in By the s, as a result of oil wealth and the modernization of the country initiated by King Faisal, important changes to Saudi society were under way and the power of the ulema was in decline.
The ulema have historically been led by the Al ash-Sheikh , [] the country's leading religious family. In return, the Al ash-Sheikh support the Al Saud's political authority [] thereby using its religious- moral authority to legitimize the royal family's rule. The primary source of law is the Islamic Sharia derived from the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah the traditions of the Prophet. Saudi judges tend to follow the principles of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence or fiqh found in pre-modern texts [] and noted for its literalist interpretation of the Qur'an and hadith.
Because the judge is empowered to disregard previous judgments either his own or of other judges and may apply his personal interpretation of Sharia to any particular case, divergent judgements arise even in apparently identical cases, [] making predictability of legal interpretation difficult.
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Royal decrees are the other main source of law; but are referred to as regulations rather than laws because they are subordinate to the Sharia. Additionally, traditional tribal law and custom remain significant. The Saudi system of justice has been criticized for its "ultra-puritanical judges", who are often harsh in their sentencing with beheading for the crime of witchcraft , but also sometimes overly lenient for cases of rape or wife-beating and slow, for example leaving thousands of abandoned women unable to secure a divorce.
Capital and physical punishments imposed by Saudi courts, such as beheading , stoning to death , amputation , crucifixion and lashing , as well as the sheer number of executions have been strongly criticized. The last reported execution for sorcery took place in September Although repeated theft can be punishable by amputation of the right hand, only one instance of judicial amputation was reported between and Homosexual acts are punishable by flogging or death.
Retaliatory punishments, or Qisas , are practised: for instance, an eye can be surgically removed at the insistence of a victim who lost his own eye. Since , as a founding member of OPEC , its oil pricing policy has been generally to stabilize the world oil market and try to moderate sharp price movements so as to not jeopardise the Western economies. However, there is evidence that the vast majority was, in fact, spent on propagating and extending the influence of Wahhabism at the expense of other forms of Islam.
In the Arab and Muslim worlds, Saudi Arabia is considered to be pro-Western and pro-American, [] and it is certainly a long-term ally of the United States. China and Saudi Arabia are major allies, with relationship between the two countries growing significantly in recent decades. Majority of Saudi Arabians also expressed a favorable view of China.
120,000-year-old footprints found in Saudi Arabia
The consequences of the invasion and the Arab Spring led to increasing alarm within the Saudi monarchy over the rise of Iran 's influence in the region. In order to protect the house of Khalifa, the monarchs of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia invaded Bahrain by sending military troops to quell the uprising of Bahraini people on 14 March On 25 March , Saudi Arabia, spearheading a coalition of Sunni Muslim states, [] started a military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh , who was deposed in the Arab Spring uprisings.
Saudi Arabia, together with Qatar and Turkey , openly supported the Army of Conquest , [] an umbrella group of anti-government forces fighting in the Syrian Civil War that reportedly included an al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and another Salafi coalition known as Ahrar al-Sham. Following a number of incidents during the Hajj season, the deadliest [] of which killed at least 2, pilgrim [] in Mina stampede , Saudi Arabia has been accused of mismanagement and focusing on increasing money revenues while neglecting pilgrims' welfare.
In March , Sweden scrapped an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, marking an end to a decade-old defense agreement with the kingdom. The decision came after Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom was blocked by the Saudis while speaking about democracy and women's rights at the Arab League in Cairo. This also led to Saudi Arabia recalling its ambassador to Sweden. Saudi Arabia has been seen as a moderating influence in the Arab—Israeli conflict , periodically putting forward a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians and condemning Hezbollah.
In August both countries appeared to be exploring ways of ending the rift. In , Saudi Arabia imposed a land, naval and air blockade on Qatar. Saudi Arabia halted new trade and investment dealings with Canada and suspended diplomatic ties in a dramatic escalation of a dispute over the kingdom's arrest of women's rights activist Samar Badawi on 6 August Tensions have escalated between Saudi Arabia and its allies after the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish officials are highly skeptical of Khashoggi being murdered inside the consulate; this has strained the already suffering Saudi Arabia—Turkey relations. As stated by Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the German Marshall Fund's Ankara office "Turkey is maintaining a very delicate balance in its relations with Saudi Arabia. The relations have the potential of evolving into a crisis at any moment.