This monograph examines the emergence and progress of an Islamist threat in Saudi Arabia and the simultaneous development of other forces for political change, and assesses the strategic situation in the Kingdom in light of the regional war on terrorism.

U.S. foreign policy and the domestic concerns of Middle Eastern states are influencing the pursuit of the global war on terror in the Middle East. A close view of Saudi Arabia reveals the complex interaction of these forces. The U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia and the global war on terror are important challenges to the U.S. administration that have region-wide ramifications. Saudi Arabia has been facing down Islamist insurgency along with other challenges since September 11, 2001 and with even more urgency since May 2OO3. The Kingdom clearly remains a major political and economic force in the region. The income from its vast oil resources primarily has funded its strong influence, and the Kingdom has, in turn sponsored poorer developing Arab nations. Furthermore, its Islamic influence has been apparent in the broader Muslim world, and the United States has maintained a strong relationship with the Kingdom for many decades.

With continuing instability in Iraq, the threat of a nuclear Iran, and the ever-present reality of further terrorist attacks within its own borders, Saudi Arabia has been forced to make some hard decisions. The current structure of the Saudi security apparatus is only one pathway to improved security. Economic and demographic threats may well be the hardest hurdles to overcome. What has been accomplished since 2001 and what are the real prospects and implications of further reform? To what extent should the kingdom continue to rely on the US to protect its interests? Cordesman and Obaid argue that it is time to put an end to client and tutorial relations. Saudi Arabia must emerge as a true partner. This will require the creation of effective Saudi forces for both defense and counterterrorism. Saudi Arabia has embarked on a process of political, economic, and social reforms that reflects a growing understanding by the governing members of the royal family, Saudi technocrats, and Saudi businessmen that Saudi Arabia must reform and diversify its economy and must create vast numbers of new jobs for its young and growing population. There is a similar understanding that economic reform must be combined with some level of political and social reform if Saudi Arabia is to remain stable in the face of change. With Gulf security, the war on terrorism, and the security of some sixty percent of the world's oil reserves at stake, the real question is how quickly Saudi Arabia can change and adapt its overall approach to security, and how successful it will be in the process.

Examines the causes and consequences of Saudi Arabia's current security policy and the domestic, regional, and international challenges the country's defense program presents to the general welfare of the Middle East. As possessor of a quarter of the world's oil reserves and host to two of the holiest cities in Islam, Saudi Arabia is an integral part of the cultural, economic, and political well-being of the Middle East. From Persian Gulf security, to Middle Eastern politics, to the international energy industry, events in this desert kingdom strongly impact the stability of the region. This comprehensive resource analyzes contemporary Saudi Arabia—its modern history, the role of Islam, and the nature of Saudi foreign relations—and reveals how these and other factors dictate and shape the country's current security policies and priorities. Middle East expert and author Mathew Gray has organized the work into six sections: the first provides an historical overview of the region from the mid-1700s to the 1980s; the second explores the Saudi political and security system; the third discusses Saudi-U.S. relations; the fourth looks at Saudi relations with the Gulf region and the wider Middle East; and the fifth considers Saudi Arabia's role in Sunni extremism and terrorism. The final chapter looks at emerging security threats for Saudi Arabia. The book includes an overview of future challenges and risks including climate change, water shortages, and problems of Saudi identity and social dispersion.

The attacks of September 11 were transformative events, both in how Americans view their own sense of security and in how America engages with the world. Although the initial battle in the U.S.-led war against terror has been fought in central and south Asia, the principles behind that campaign have special resonance in the Middle East. This region is home to organizations which share both ideology and methodology with the perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition, many aspects of the threat to U.S. interests are particular to the region: the frightening spread of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery; the ongoing challenge to the international system posed by Iraq; and, perhaps most of all, the reluctance that many U.S. allies in the region exhibit to confront their own religious militants. In this volume, key U.S. and Middle East decision makers, academics, and journalists discuss important themes such as the common interests of regional states in cooperating against terrorism, the different strategies adopted by regimes in confronting their Islamist challenges, the impact of September 11 events on the Israeli-Palestinian arena, the problems and prospects of maintaining the antiterror coalition, and the role of democracy as an antidote to the regions ills.

The author offers a detailed comparison between the character of irregular warfare, insurgency in particular, and the principal enduring features of "the American way." He concludes that there is a serious mismatch between that "way" and the kind of behavior that is most effective in countering irregular foes. The author poses the question, Can the American way of war adapt to a strategic threat context dominated by irregular enemies? He suggests that the answer is "perhaps, but only with difficulty."

Saudi Arabia influences American policy through both conventional and unconventional methods, all due to the petro-dollars that have been generated from America's addiction to foreign oil. With chapters written by renowned experts, this book uses first-hand accounts to explore this vast influence

As jihadist extremism, and its manifestation as Al Qaeda, began to spread - even in the years before 9/11 - Saudi Arabia became a principal target. Jihadists identified the country as the first state against which they could mount a concerted effort to destabilise, undermine and subvert the authority of its central government and its ruling elites. This prompted the Saudis to take defensive initiatives which were to become widely recognised as an effective way to deal with extremism. The key element of the Saudi approach was to lace their hard confrontation of the extremists with subtle, soft mechanisms to undermine the will of actual and potential terrorists. The efforts ranged from interdiction of funding terrorist groups to the deployment of social and psychological pressures aimed at steering extremists away from their cause. This included welfare inducements whereby perpetrators were persuaded by material benefits - state support to families and individuals, housing allowances, educational opportunities - to abandon their political goals in favour of a return to family and society. This book charts the course of the Saudi terrorist rehabilitation programme and makes vital reading for all who, either directly or indirectly, have an interest in following the emergence of international terrorism.