Saudis ponder nationhood as reform stumbles in face of political myths
Madawi Al-Rasheed

Several myths, propagated inside Saudi Arabia and outside it, continue to influence the way people assess the Saudi enigma.

One myth is the claim that the state reflects tribal coalitions. The reality is that today the only tribe which practices political tribalism in Saudi Arabia is that of the Al-Saud. Over the past 100 years the Al-Saud have evolved from being a family into being a tribe. Saudi society continues to hold onto the social and identity aspects of tribalism, but no political tribalism is evident. Sections of Saudi society adhere to the ethos of the tribe but do not exhibit the political aspect of tribalism.

Meanwhile, the tribes that once exerted a role have been pacified and are now divided and have been co-opted by the state. To imagine that Saudi tribes form coherent units with obvious overarching leadership – which will rise in protest or opposition to the regime – is absurd. The strongest tribe today is that of the Al-Saud.

Madawi Al-Rasheed offers a fascinating look at nationhood, how the Saudis view their nation, over at Saudi Debate. Al-Rasheed, author of A History of Saudi Arabia among many other books, is one of the best sources I know about the dynamics of Saudi society and politics.

In this piece, she dispells several of the myths that tend to get picked up as “gospel truth” by Westerners. In addition to analysis of the power of tribalism, she notes that the depiction of a “Nejd State” imposed upon the country isn’t quite true. Nor, she says, is Saudi Arabia a Wahhabi state.

There’s lots to read here, some of it to argue with. The US, for instance and contra Ms Al-Rasheed assertion, does keep pressure on Saudi Arabia. It doesn’t do it militarily or economically, but through the annual reports on Religious Freedom, Anti-Semitism, Trafficking in Persons, and Human Rights, as well as the various reports and congressional hearings on terrorism, terror financing, textbooks and education . These are far from the pressures used against some other countries, but they are the appropriate pressures to be using with the KSA. The more effective of these pressures are those that align with pressures already existing within Saudi society itself.

The essay, though, is worth reading in its entirety, several times, in fact.