The Islamic utopia : the illusion of reform in Saudi Arabia / Andrew Hammond.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hammond, Andrew, 1970-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Politics and government.

Saudi Arabia--Politics and government--21st century.

Saudi Arabia.

Physical Description:

xi, 269 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Pluto Press ; New York : Distributed In the United States by Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Summary:

Will Saudi Arabia join the democratic wave in the Middle East? The uprisings of 2011 do not, yet, seem to have affected the stability of the House of Saud, which remains secretive, highly repressive and propped up by the West.

This book uses sources including recently released WikiLeaks documents to examine Saudi domestic and foreign policy in the decade after the 9/11 attacks, when King Abdullah's 'reform' agenda took centre stage. It considers the Saudi position that its identity as an Islamic Sharia state makes it immune to the democratic demands of the Arab Spring. Andrew Hammond questions the claims of the Saudi state to cultural exceptionalism and argues that Western governments have for too long accepted Riyadh's repositioning of itself as a buttress against jihadist Islam, resurgent Iranian nationalism and Palestinian radicalism. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Religious Society 13

2 Government in the Sharia State 46

3 The Warrior King and His Priests 66

4 Segregated Nation 92

5 The Illusion of Reform 117

6 Foreign Policy Adventurism: Iran and Palestine 154

7 The Saudi Cordon Sanitaire in Arab Media 184

8 Controlling Mecca: In the House of God 210

Conclusion 230.

ISBN:

9780745332697

0745332692

OCLC:

819556971