A Study of Saudi Arabian Kingdom in a Constructive Spectrum

This thesis studies and analyzes the dynamics behind the longevity of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom such as religious ideology, exploitation of public wealth; i.e. oil and the construction of historical identity for the al-Saud dynasty. It will draw on these dynamics and study the constructive utilization of these dynamics and factors in muzzling the prospects for democracy, change, respect for human rights and freedom of expression. The method used to obtain data and information is qualitative as they are mostly gathered through reading scholarly literature both from western and Islamic perspectives in order to present a balanced view and a high validity of the study. However, the validity of such a longitudinal study is hard to ascertain, I intend to collect and analyse the information in its different contexts such as historical developments and policy making. This is aptly manageable through qualitative research as it involves understanding of the phenomenon which doesn’t require measurement and quantification. The method principally asks why the Saudi rulers have been in power for such a long time in spite of a draconian record in terms of human rights and democracy and how they have achieved to stay on power. One such constructed factor is the Wahhabi Islam which is employed as a legitimizing factor by the al-Saud rule over the region. The paper will attempt minding its constructivist framework to unravel the ideological illusions of the Saudi rule; for example how the kingdom distorted Islamic reading and subjugated the masses to such a reading and combined such a discourse with their power. Keywords: Wahhabism, al-Saud, ideology, Islam, Democracy, Identity, Constructivism, Middle East, Oil