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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
Fahd, already the major spokesman for the Saudi regime,
became even more active as Khalid's health steadily deteriorated.
This visibility and experience stood him in good stead when
Khalid died after a short illness on June 14, 1982; Fahd
immediately assumed power and Abd Allah, head of the national
guard, became crown prince. One of the first problems that the
new king faced was a 20 percent drop in oil revenues, as a result
of a world oil surplus that developed by 1982
(see Economic Policy During the Oil Boom, 1974-85
, ch. 3). Despite the fall in
revenues, until the oil price crash of 1986 Saudi Arabia did not
make significant changes in the oil policies it followed
beginning in the oil boom years from 1974 onward. Saudi Arabia
also reduced the number of foreign workers employed in the
country during the 1980s. Whereas a reduction in the number of
foreigners had long been an objective, the drop in oil revenues
facilitated its achievement.
The reduction in Saudi Arabia's wealth has not decreased its
influence in the Arab world. The kingdom, and Fahd in particular,
have come to play a mediating role in inter-Arab conflicts. They
continued, for instance, their efforts to stop the fighting in
Lebanon. In 1989 King Fahd brought the entire Lebanese National
Assembly, both Christian and Muslim deputies, to the Saudi resort
city of At Taif. At the time, the assembly had been unable to
meet in Lebanon because of military clashes and political
violence. Once in At Taif, however, the Lebanese deputies voted
on a plan for reform and were eventually able to elect a new
president. Fahd's actions did not solve the problems in Lebanon,
but they helped to end a particular stage of the conflict.
Saudi Arabia has not been so fortunate in its relations with
Iran since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979
(see Regional Security
, ch. 4). In November 1987, Saudi Arabia reestablished
diplomatic relations with Egypt
(see Arab Nationalism
, ch. 4).
King Fahd visited Egypt in March 1989 and received an
enthusiastic welcome on the streets of Cairo. His visit signified
the end of Egypt's temporary isolation within the Arab world, but
it demonstrated at the same time the important position that
Saudi Arabia had achieved. Although Egypt was the country of
Nasser, one of the most charismatic figures of the modern Arab
world, it was the visit of a Saudi king that provided the ritual
event to symbolize Egypt's return to the Arab family.
* * *
For the recent history of Saudi Arabia a good book is Graham
Fuller's Unveiling Saudi Arabia. The best and most
accessible book on the country before 1984 is Robert Lacey's
The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Saud. Lacey begins
essentially with Abd al Aziz's rise to power, the establishment
of the modern state, and the difficulties faced by Abd al Aziz's
successors. A more analytical discussion of comparable material
is found in Christine Moss Helms' The Cohesion of Saudi
Arabia. Information on Abd al Aziz's relationship with the
Ikhwan exists in John Habib's Ibn Sa'ud's Warriors of
Islam.
The leading book for the history of Al Saud before Abd al
Aziz is Bayly Winder's Saudi Arabia in the Nineteenth
Century. For the period of Muhammad ibn Saud and Muhammad ibn
Abd al Wahhab, see George Rentz's article, "Wahhabism and Saudi
Arabia." Little has been written on Arabia in medieval times.
Much information exists, however, on the early Islamic period;
the principal Western author on the subject is W. Montgomery
Watt. Anyone interested in a Muslim presentation of the subject
should consider Mohamed Hassanain Haykal's The Life of
Muhammad. For the period before Islam, see the first two
chapters of Philip Hitti's The Arabs. (For further
information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1992
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