Saudi Arabia: The Shape of a Client Feudalism

428 Pages·1998·44.69 MB·English

by  Geoff Simons (auth.)

SAUDI ARABIA
Also by Geoff Simons and published by Palgrave Macmillan
CUBA: From Conquistador to Castro
IRAQ: From Sumer to Saddam
KOREA: The Search for Sovereignty
LIBYA: The Struggle for Survival
THE SCOURGING OF IRAQ: Sanctions, Law and Natural Justice
THE UNITED NATIONS: A Chronology of Conflict
UN MALAISE: Power, Problems and Realpolitik
VIETNAM SYNDROME: Impact on US Foreign Policy
Some other books by Geoff Simons
EVOLUTION OF THE INTELLIGENT MACHINE
THE WITCHCRAFT WORLD
THE USES OF MICROPROCESSORS
A HISTORY OF SEX
SEX IN THE MODERN WORLD
WOMEN IN COMPUTING
IS GOD A PROGRAMMER? Religion in the Computer Age
THE PHALLIC MYSTIQUE
ARE COMPUTERS ALIVE? Evolution and New Life Forms
SEX AND SUPERSTITION
SILICON PSYCHOSIS: Derangement in the Global Network
PRIVACY IN THE COMPUTER AGE
A PLACE FOR PLEASURE: A History of the Brothel
THE BIOLOGY OF COMPUTER LIFE: Survival, Emotion and Free Will
EXPERT SYSTEMS AND MICROS
FRAUD AND ABUSE OF IT SYSTEMS
IS MAN A ROBOT?
PORNOGRAPHY WITHOUT PREJUDICE: A Reply to Objectors
VIRUSES, BUGS AND STAR WARS: The Hazards of Unsafe Computing
ROBOTS: The Quest for Living Machines
MANAGEMENT GUIDE TO OFFICE AUTOMATION
ECO-COMPUTER: The Impact of Global Intelligence
SILICON SHOCK: The Menace of the Computer Invasion
SEX TOMORROW
INTRODUCING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
TOWARDS FIFTH-GENERATION COMPUTERS
Saudi Arabia
The Shape of a Client Feudalism
Geoff Simons
© Geoff Simons 1998
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1998
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
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Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road,
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims
for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as
the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 1998 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LID
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-26728-6 ISBN 978-1-349-26726-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-26726-2
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from
fully managed and sustained forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 321
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98
Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction xiii
PART I THE FEUDAL FRAME
1 Islam, Law and Human Rights 3
Preamble 3
The Human Rights Framework 4
The Islamic Source 8
The Sharia Imperative 16
The Closed Society 20
The Corrupt Culture 26
The Treatment of Dissidents 32
The Practical Penology 39
The Sexual Suppression 50
The Survival of Slavery 62
PART II THE HISTORY 69
2 Religious Roots 71
Preamble 71
The Early Arabians 73
The Pagan Culture 79
Muhammed 85
The Context 85
The Life 90
A Prophet? 98
The Holy Koran 103
The Islamic Frame 108
3 Conquest and Decline 111
Preamble 111
The Arab Expansion 112
From Umayyad to Abbasid 119
The Arab Decline 130
The Ottoman Era 137
v
vi Contents
4 Saudi Ascendancy 144
Preamble 144
The Wahhabist Soul 145
The Saudi Ascendancy 149
Britain and the Arab Revolt 173
Towards Saudi Arabia 177
5 The Oil State 185
Preamble 185
Ibn Saud - The Final Years 186
The Dynasty Continues 196
King Saud 196
King Faisal 200
King Khaled 205
KingFahd 208
The Britain Factor 210
The US Factor 213
Black Gold 221
The Yemen Wars - I 226
The Arab-Israeli Wars 231
PART TIl THE MODERN CLIENT 235
6 Wars, Rumours of Wars 237
Preamble 237
The Arms Ploy 241
The Iran-Iraq War (1980-8) 255
The 1991 Gulf War 262
The Yemen Wars - II 274
7 The Gathering Clouds 280
Preamble 280
Problems 281
An Economic Predicament? 287
Feudalism or Change? 300
Custodian ofIslam? 308
The Dissident Revolt 316
The Violent Option 325
Appendices 336
I International Human Rights Instruments Signed or Ratified by Arab
and Islamic Countries but not by Saudi Arabia 336
II The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam 338
III Articles of Government 344
Contents vii
IV Articles of the Shura (Consultative Council) 354
V Council of Ministers - Rules 359
Notes 363
Bibliography 390
Index 396
List of Figures
2.1 The genealogy of the Quraysh, the family of Muhammed 86
3.1 First Arab conquests - main thrusts (dates of battles shown) 117
3.2 Ottoman Empire at its height (c. 1550) 139
4.1 Simplified family tree of House of Saud 146
5.1 Red Line Agreement 187
5.2 The 'Sudeiri Seven' (the Al Fahd) 206
6.1 Members of British Offset Committee for Al-Yamamah Project 249
7.1 The Development Process - Saudi economy 295
viii
List of Tables
1.1 Hajj-linked disasters (1980-97) 11
1.2 Seven periods on the history of Islamic law 17
1.3 Some Saudi royal-family media interests 22
1.4 Some political prisoners in Saudi Arabia (October 1992) 35
1.5 Saudi arrests/raids/torture (1994/95) 37
2.1 Lineal ancestors of Muhammed 77
2.2 Muhammed's judgement on sinners 106
2.3 Muhammed's judgement on the righteous 107
3.1 Main events in the Arab conquest 118
3.2 Caliphs of Umayyad dynasty 124
3.3 Caliphs of Abbasid dynasty 128
4.1 Some main events in the Saudi ascendancy 158
4.2 Some main events in the life of Ibn Saud 169
5.1 Modem Saudi dynasty 198
5.2 Struggle for power in Yemen (1948-74) 228
6.1 Sample Saudi arms deals (1974-97) 243
7.1 Saudi oil revenues (1973-94) 289
ix