The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia dates back to 1932 when King Adb-al-Aziz of the Al Saud family gained control over Hejaz from the Hashemite family. He then united the areas under his family's control into the present day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (overview). Following the discovery of vast oil fields in 1938, as pointed out in a timeline prepared by BBC, the poor desert kingdom quickly transformed into one of the wealthiest nations in the region. During this time, the Al Saud family succeeded to rule under the descendants of King Abd-al-Aziz.
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| "Young prince in a Hurry" - The Economist |
In 2005, Crown Prince Abdullah was named King of Saudi Arabia. He remained in power until his death in 2015. Under King Abdullah's rule, the kingdom faced backlash and chaos relating to Islamic terrorists including al-Qaeda and the Arab Spring of 2011. However, King Abdullah still managed to move the nation forward both socially and diplomatically. He gave women the right to vote and run for elected office, he led Saudi Arabia and Qatar to agree to a final delineation of the border, and he overhauled the judicial system. In addition, he increased welfare spending and appointed the first ever female minister of the kingdom.
With the transfer of power to 79-year-old King Salman in 2015, the
future of Saudi Arabia looked bleak. By this time, conflicts had surrounded the
borders of the nation, oil demand had been suffering do to fracking and newly
discovered oil reserves in the United States, and Saudi Arabia faced its first
budget deficit in over five years (chart).
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| King Salman |
King Salman appointed his 30-year-old son Prince Muhammad to
defense minister and head of the royal court shortly after he vacated the throne.
Prince Muhammad is the deputy crown prince, but will likely succeed his father
when power should be transferred. This also relates to Prince Muhammad’s
independence and assertiveness while still prince.
The King and his son have by no means allowed their time in power
be wasted. According to an (article) in the Economist, just weeks after he was
appointed defense minister, “fighter jets from Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s
richest state, led a coalition into action against the Houthi militias of its
poorest, Yemen.” According to Prince Muhammad, the goals in Yemen are to reestablish
the Yemen government and protect the borders of Saudi Arabia. In an interview with the Economist, Prince Muhammad strongly defended Saudi Arabia’s current
efforts by stating:
“I have
surface-to-surface missiles right now on my borders, only 30-50 km away from my
borders, the range of these missiles could reach 550km, owned by militia, and
militia carrying out exercises on my borders, and militia in control of
warplanes, for the first time in history, right on my borders, and these war
planes that are controlled by the militia carry out activities against their
own people in Aden. Is there any country in the world who would accept the fact
that a militia with this kind of armament should be on their borders?”
The Houthis have been receiving help
from Iran which does not help the tensions between the two nations. This is occurring
concurrently as Saudi Arabia watches from the sidelines as the United States, which
Saudi Arabia considers an ally, continues negotiations with Iran. To add to the
tension, on January 2, 2016, King Salman ordered the execution of 47 dissidents
by beheading. According to a Time article, three were Saudi Shi’as, approximately
one-third were al-Qaeda-linked Saudis, and the majority were Sunni. Among these
was a prominent Shi’ite cleric Sheikh Nimr. This lead to upheaval in Iran and
within hours, the Saudi embassy in Tehran was overran. Saudi Arabia quickly
severed any diplomatic ties with Iran. In relation to U.S.-Iran relations,
the Time article states:
“U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry had, immediately after the anti-Saudi riots which destroyed Saudi
diplomatic missions in Iran, telephoned Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif to discuss the issue. He then telephoned his Saudi counterpart, Foreign
Minister Adel al-Jubeir, only to be told that the Saudis did not wish to speak
to him. This was the worst snub to the U.S. by Saudi Arabia since the late King
‘Abdallah bin ‘Abd al-’Aziz al Sa’ud cut short U.S. Pres. Barack Obama’s State
visit to the Kingdom on March 28, 2014.”
Between foreign
affairs and rock-bottom oil prices, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in crisis
and must make great strides to return to a path of success.
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