The Political Economy of Saudi Arabia

The Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD) was set up by the regional members of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), Iran, Turkey and Pakistan, in July 1964 to strengthen their socio-economic development. However, a number of financial, political and administrative difficulties made progress under RCD slow. Despite assurances to the contrary, the probable impetus behind the formation of RCD was the unease with the politico-military aspects of CENTO. However, RCD's political significance grew steadily, and that of CENTO declined correspondingly. Nevertheless, recognizing that RCD could not provide an effective military substitute, Iran and Turkey still attached value to CENTO. After twelve unsatisfactory years, the three regional Heads of State held a summit in Izmir on 22 April 1976, making amendments to the 1964 declaration. The Treaty of Izmir was signed in 1977 as the legal framework for RCD. Yet, RCD was unsuccessful. In January 1985, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan established a new organisation called the Economic Co-operation Organization (ECO).     

Saudi Arabia plans for its economic future: Vision 2030, the National Transformation Plan and Saudi fiscal reform

ABSTRACT

In response to a rapid decline in world oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman introduced a new economic blueprint called Saudi Vision 2030 and the accompanying National Transformation Plan that would enable the Kingdom to diversify its heavily oil-dependent revenue base, reduce its growing budget deficits, balance its budgets, and promote long-term economic growth. This article analyses the goals of the Vision and the policies offered to achieve them, which entail significant reforms to the Kingdom’s fiscal and budgetary procedures and policies. This study considers the political and institutional challenges that confront the Saudi Vision and its likelihood of success.     

The Shi'a of Saudi Arabia: a minority in search of cultural authenticity

This article focuses on the transformation of Saudi Shi'a resistance from one which centred on military confrontation in the 1980s to one which invokes searching for cultural authenticity (al‐asala al‐shi'iyya) in the 1990s. Today the struggle of the Shi'a for equal status among the Sunni majority draws attention to the attempts of Shi'a intellectuals to write their own regional history. Shi'a intellectuals and opposition leaders deconstruct official representations of themselves and provide alternative historical narratives which anchor their community in Saudi history and society, thus dismissing suggestions that they are a non‐indigenous community. This article examines Shi'a historical narratives in an attempt to understand the transformation in their struggle against discrimination in Saudi Arabia.