Suchergebnisse

This roundtable is an effort to challenge prevailing assumptions that have long dominated the general discourse about citizenship and belonging. We use the Arabian Peninsula as the site for our discussion. Our scope and purpose involve both theoretical innovation and empirical diversity. Participants are multidisciplinary and put forth ideas that move conversation on the politics of citizenship and belonging beyond the usual suspects: oil and arms, the rentier framework, social contracts that exchange welfare for loyalty, a simple state-centric lens, the primacy of tribal identities, the binary of local or foreign worker, and the binary of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) or Yemen.

Portrayals of internal politics as contests between United States–allied 'moderates' and puritanical 'Wahhabis' are grossly oversimplified. So too is a menu that offers two stark choices: an absolute monarchy tilting toward the West or a revolutionary Islamist regime hostile to the West.

The Saudi File is a handy volume, with limitations, for those who write on Saudi Arabia: it is a compilation of various documents, statements, press clips, and reports that broadly concern politics in the country. The chapter titles reflect important subjects, such as the Basic Law, government and sh―ur―a council, political reform, an Islamic state, religious police, human rights, the press and freedom of speech, refugees, gender, labor, terror, security, international relations, dissidents abroad, and the Gulf War. The relevance of these issues and institutions makes the volume a convenient tool for research.