Saudi Model of Development for the Islamic World: Peculiarities and Limits

封面

如何引用文章

详细

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Saudi model of development for the Islamic world, which Riyadh started actively promoting after the “Arab Spring”. The popular protests in the Middle East and North Africa countries, which led to the changes in the ruling regimes, opened up prospects for the states of the region to transform their own models of statehood. In this regard large regional actors such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey proposed their own models as an example for possible changing political systems and foreign policy of countries affected by unrest. The relevance of the topic of this study is determined by the fact that the current struggle for leadership in the Middle East, unfolding between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has reached a level where the rivals could influence the choice of development path of other countries, such as Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. In this regard, it is extremely important to assess the models proposed by Riyadh and Tehran, to determine the prospects for their implementation. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the development model for the Islamic world proposed by Saudi Arabia, as well as to assess the limitations of this model. The author used both general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and methods of historical science (concrete historical, comparative historical, historical genetic methods) and religion studies (causal analysis). In addition, the methodology of political science and economics was widely used. A special focus was done on the quantitative analysis of the amount of aid sent by Saudi Arabia to implement various projects in the countries of the Islamic world as part of international development assistance programs, with the aim of forming a ranking of recipient states from Riyadh. As a result of the study, the author came to the conclusion that Saudi Arabia pursues a pragmatic foreign policy strategy, in fact, not relying on Islamic principles. However, Riyadh is devoting significant financial resources to implementing programs to promote the development of the Islamic world and religious diplomacy, in which the promotion of its own “version” of Islam - Wahhabism, and more precisely Salafism, plays an important role. Among the main limitations of the Saudi model the author identified oil as the basis for modernization, since not all states have this resource and can develop their own economy on its basis; Wahhabism as a “small-town” doctrine, which can hardly be borrowed by the countries of the Islamic world, in which more moderate religious schools have traditionally dominated; absolute monarchy as a form of government, even with elements of democracy.

作者简介

Olga Chikrizova

RUDN University

编辑信件的主要联系方式.
Email: chikrizova-os@rudn.ru

PhD in History, Senior Lecturer, Department of Theory and History of International Relations

Moscow, Russian Federation

参考

  1. Al-Ali, H.I. (1998). Mabadia wa akhdaf al-siyasa al-kharijiya al-saudiya. Al-mustawa al-khalijiy, al-islamiy, al-duwaliy. In: Al-Siyasa al-kharijiya lil-mamlaka al-arabiya al-saudiya fi miat amm [Principles and Goals of Saudi Foreign Policy: Gulf Region, Islamic World, International Community. In: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy for a Hundred Years]. Riyadh. (In Arabic).
  2. Al-Rasheed, M. (2007). Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic Voices from a New Generation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  3. Al-Rasheed, M. (2010). A History of Saudi Arabia. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  4. Al-Rasheed, M. (Eds.). (2018). Salman’s Legacy. The Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia. Oxford University Press.
  5. Amghar, S. (2012). The Muslim World League in Europe: An Islamic Organization to Serve the Saudi Strategic Interests? Journal of Muslims in Europe, 1, 127—141. doi: 10.1163/22117954-12341234
  6. Bianchi, R.R. (2004). Guests of God. Pilgrimage and Politics in Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  7. Conesa, P. (2018). The Saudi Terror Machine. The Truth about Radical Islam and Saudi Arabia Revealed. Delaware: Skyhorse Publishing.
  8. Delong-Bas, N. (2010). Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad. Moscow: Ladomir publ. (In Russian).
  9. Dorsey, J. (2018). Pakistan’s Lurch towards Ultra-Conservativism Abetted by Saudi-Inspired Pyramid Scheme. Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 12 (1), 66—88. doi: 10.1080/25765949.2018.1439618
  10. Ekhtiari Amiri, R. & Soltani, F. (2011). Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait as Turning Point in Iran-Saudi Relationship. Journal of Politics and Law, 4 (3), 188—195. doi: 10.5539/jpl.v4n1p188
  11. Ekhtiari Amiri, R., Binti Ku Samsu, K.H. & Fereidouni, H.G. (2011). The Hajj and Iran’s Foreign Policy towards Saudi Arabia. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 46 (6), 678—690. doi: 10.1177/0021909611417546
  12. Gallarotti, G. & Al-Filali, I.Y. (2012). Saudi Arabia’s Soft Power. International Studies, 49 (3—4), 233—261. doi: 10.1177/0020881714532707
  13. Khalid, A. (2014). Islam after Communism. Religion and Politics in Central Asia. University of California Press.
  14. Kosach, G.G. & Melkumyan, E.S. (2003). Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia. Moscow: IIIiBV publ. (In Russian).
  15. Kosach, G.G. (2013a). Saudi Arabia: Power, Ulama and Anti-Systemic Opposition (Theological and Political Response to Opponents of the Regime). Russia and the Muslim World, 1 (247), 127—158. (In Russian).
  16. Kosach, G.G. (2013b). Saudi Arabia: Political Processes of the 1990s — 2000s. Moscow: Institut Blijnego Vostoka publ. (In Russian).
  17. Lunn, J. (2003). History. In: The Middle East and North Africa. 49th Edition. London: Routledge. P. 943—979.
  18. Naumkin, V.V. (2018). Failed Partnership. Soviet Diplomacy in Saudi Arabia between World Wars. Moscow: Aspekt Press publ. (In Russian).
  19. Smith Diwan, K. (2009). Sovereign Dilemmas: Saudi Arabia and Sovereign Wealth Funds. Geopolitics, 14 (2), 345—359. doi: 10.1080/14650040902827831
  20. Valiakhmetova, G.N. (2013). Islamic Factor in World Politics. Yekaterinburg: Uralskiy universitet publ. (In Russian).
  21. Vassiliev, A.M. (1999). The History of Saudi Arabia (1745 — End of 20th Century). Moscow: Klassika plus publ. (In Russian).
  22. Wang, T. & Lin, S. (2000). General History of the Middle East: Saudi Arabia. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
  23. Yakovlev, A.I. (2011). Modernization of Saudi Arabia: Results and Prospects at the Beginning of the 21st Century. In: Eastern Analytics. Yearbook 2011: Economics and Politics of the East. Moscow: IV RAN publ. P. 48—58. (In Russian).
  24. Yi Li. (2019). Saudi Arabia’s Economic Diplomacy through Foreign Aid: Dynamics, Objectives and Mode. Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 13 (1), 110—122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/25765949.2019.1586367

版权所有 © Chikrizova O.S., 2019

Creative Commons License
此作品已接受知识共享署名-非商业性使用 4.0国际许可协议的许可。

##common.cookie##