Global Security Watch Saudi Arabia

Examines the causes and consequences of Saudi Arabia's current security policy and the domestic, regional, and international challenges the country's defense program presents to the general welfare of the Middle East. As possessor of a quarter of the world's oil reserves and host to two of the holiest cities in Islam, Saudi Arabia is an integral part of the cultural, economic, and political well-being of the Middle East. From Persian Gulf security, to Middle Eastern politics, to the international energy industry, events in this desert kingdom strongly impact the stability of the region. This comprehensive resource analyzes contemporary Saudi Arabia—its modern history, the role of Islam, and the nature of Saudi foreign relations—and reveals how these and other factors dictate and shape the country's current security policies and priorities. Middle East expert and author Mathew Gray has organized the work into six sections: the first provides an historical overview of the region from the mid-1700s to the 1980s; the second explores the Saudi political and security system; the third discusses Saudi-U.S. relations; the fourth looks at Saudi relations with the Gulf region and the wider Middle East; and the fifth considers Saudi Arabia's role in Sunni extremism and terrorism. The final chapter looks at emerging security threats for Saudi Arabia. The book includes an overview of future challenges and risks including climate change, water shortages, and problems of Saudi identity and social dispersion.

With continuing instability in Iraq, the threat of a nuclear Iran, and the ever-present reality of further terrorist attacks within its own borders, Saudi Arabia has been forced to make some hard decisions. The current structure of the Saudi security apparatus is only one pathway to improved security. Economic and demographic threats may well be the hardest hurdles to overcome. What has been accomplished since 2001 and what are the real prospects and implications of further reform? To what extent should the kingdom continue to rely on the US to protect its interests? Cordesman and Obaid argue that it is time to put an end to client and tutorial relations. Saudi Arabia must emerge as a true partner. This will require the creation of effective Saudi forces for both defense and counterterrorism. Saudi Arabia has embarked on a process of political, economic, and social reforms that reflects a growing understanding by the governing members of the royal family, Saudi technocrats, and Saudi businessmen that Saudi Arabia must reform and diversify its economy and must create vast numbers of new jobs for its young and growing population. There is a similar understanding that economic reform must be combined with some level of political and social reform if Saudi Arabia is to remain stable in the face of change. With Gulf security, the war on terrorism, and the security of some sixty percent of the world's oil reserves at stake, the real question is how quickly Saudi Arabia can change and adapt its overall approach to security, and how successful it will be in the process.

Combining vast scholarship and a deep understanding of Arab culture, Nadav Safran has written a sophisticated book about the politics of Saudi Arabia. In a narrative that emphasizes the Saudis' sense of the precariousness of their state and of their position in the Middle East, Safran demystifies the behavior of the Kingdom's rulers. Security has long been the predominant concern of Saudi Arabia. In 1981, the Kingdom's defense and security budget was an immense $25 billion, the fourth largest in the world, after the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, and the highest in the world on a per capita basis. Safran traces the roots of Saudi preoccupation with security through half a century, discerning political struggles and policy differences in the Saud family and how they have affected the position of the country. His treatment provides an enlightening perspective on the interplay of the politics of the elite; shifting inter-Arab alignments and rivalries; war, revolution, and other cataclysmic events in the Persian Gulf; the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict; and the involvement of the United States in the Middle East.

This paper examines Saudi Arabia's security from the Saudi point of view, concentrating on internal challenges to the country's security as well as external threats. It also surveys US-Saudi relations in the aftermath of the terrorist strikes of the 11th of September 2001.

A thorough examination of the nation of Saudi Arabia, focusing on the current state of affairs and potential future challenges. Saudi Arabia: National Security in a Troubled Region provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of Saudi Arabia's strategic security efforts, both within the country and as a stabilizing regional presence. In this meticulously researched book, acclaimed geopolitical scholar Anthony Cordesman, well-known for his role as ABC News's national security analyst, takes readers inside the Saudi security structure for an unprecedented look at its internal and external forces, policymaking, and careful balancing of regional and East/West relationships. In Saudi Arabia, Anthony Cordesman shows how the Kingdom is responding to an unstable Iraq, a potentially nuclear Iran, the needs of its fellow Southern Gulf states, and the ongoing threat of terrorism inside its borders. Cordesman also considers a number of socioeconomic and demographic factors that could bring dramatic changes within the Kingdom in the near future. Nonpartisan, unbiased, and based on the author's unparalleled access to high profile Saudi officials, the book offers a level of expertise and insight no other consideration of the subject can match.

A comprehensive examination of the complex domestic environment and the quarrelsome neighbors that contribute to Lebanon's condition as one of the most violent and unstable countries in the Middle East. Global Security Watch—Lebanon is the first volume to consider all factors—political, economic, religious, and actions by its neighbors—that have contributed to Lebanon's violent past and that shape its current security status. In Global Security Watch—Lebanon, author David Sorenson explores Lebanon's arcane—almost dysfunctional—political structure and economic system, as well as the complex religious makeup of a country that is home to Christians, Jews, and Arabs with no majority faith. Sorenson also looks at how the nation has often served as a focal point of diplomatic and military conflict for other nations, including Syria, Iran, and Israel, as well as how ill-informed American policies toward Lebanon have ultimately harmed American strategic interests in the Middle East.

An original study on the strategic dimensions of Kenya encompasses in-depth examinations of the Kenya Armed Forces, political and military relations with key neighboring countries, and Kenya's crucial strategic relationship with the United States. Kenya plays a key role in the conflicts between the Western and Islamic worlds, making a grasp of its politics, international relations, military services, and security status an important study. Global Security Watch—Kenya provides a thorough introduction to the security issues facing the modern-day nation, offering policymakers, researchers, and general readers a window into this globally important, sub-Saharan country. This expert analysis is the first to examine the strategic dimensions of Kenya and the political and military circumstances that have shaped the country. Following an overview of Kenya's history, geography, and politics, the book explores the development of the Kenya Armed Forces; Kenya's critical relations and security issues in Greater East Africa, particularly with Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia; and the country's strategic relations with the United States. Drawing on objective historical and contemporary research, interviews with influential figures, and his own first-hand experiences, the author underscores Kenya's enduring strategic importance and offers recommendations on policy decisions.

This book provides an overview of contemporary issues in Sudan, Africa's largest nation, examining the country's history and current scene to help readers develop a deeper understanding of how much Sudan matters in today's world. With deep connections to the Sahel and savanna to the west, the African world to the south, the Horn of Africa to the east, and the Middle East to the north, Sudan is important strategically, legally, geopolitically, and militarily—but too often overlooked, or underestimated. Sudan, the country of residence of Osama bin Laden for six years, has played, and will continue to play, a significant role in worldwide security matters. An analysis of the causes, resolutions, and implications of the ongoing Sudanese conflicts (including the genocide in Darfur), this book is essential reading for policymakers, researchers, and students alike. This book considers Sudan's historical foundations, examining how the agendas of countries to the south, east, and north have influenced Sudan's people and government. The author also explains the origins and context of the Darfur conflict, laying out possible steps toward a resolution. Questions concerning Sudanese oil—where is it? how much is there? to whom does it belong?—help focus any discussion of Sudan's emerging importance in the contemporary world. Other issues—such as the influence of Islamism or the Sudanese activities of the Arab League, China, or the African Union—underline the uncertainties that confront the people of Sudan today.

This book explains the foreign policy decisions of Iranian leaders, as well as the foreign policy decisions of its neighbors and major world powers. Iran is not treated primarily as a problem to be dealt with by the United States and its friends. There is an effort to understand not only the concerns and policies of the United States and its allies, but also to understand Iranian concerns and policy. Thus, this book is better able than many others to explain the actions, reactions, and interactions of all the relevant actors and to explore the prospects for future war or peace. Mattair provides a comprehensive analysis of Iran's relations with its neighbors and major world powers. He begins with a review of Iran's foreign relations from the time of Iran's founding in the 5th century B.C. through the Islamic era beginning in the mid-600's A.D., and the native dynasties that ruled in more recent centuries as Iran faced challenges from foreign powers such as the Ottoman Empire and Western colonial empires. The rule of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, from 1941 until 1979, is analyzed in detail, covering his efforts to deter aggression by the Soviet Union, forge an alliance with the United States, assert Iran's power in the Persian Gulf, and exercise Iran's economic power, particularly through its oil wealth. The bulk of the book, however, focuses on the foreign relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979, during the time in which Ayatollah Khomeini and his successors have ruled. The reasons for Iran's early revolutionary activism, its antagonism toward the United States and Israel, and its war with Iraq from 1980 to 1988, are carefully examined. The reasons for international efforts to contain Iran, particularly efforts by the United States, are also analyzed. Iran's more pragmatic policies are explained, as well, including its close relations with Russia and China, its efforts to repair relations with Saudi Arabia and the other Arab states of the Gulf, its cooperation with U.S. efforts to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan after September 11, 2001, and its offer of comprehensive negotiations with the United States in May 2003. Finally, Mattair analyzes the current global debate about whether diplomacy, sanctions, or military action are appropriate responses to Iran's nuclear programs, its role in Iraq and the Persian Gulf, and its resistance to Israel.