From the Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter who has spent the last thirty years writing about Saudi Arabia—as diplomatic correspondent, foreign editor, and then publisher of The Wall Street Journal—an important and timely book that explores all facets of life in this shrouded Kingdom: its tribal past, its complicated present, its precarious future.
Through observation, anecdote, extensive interviews, and analysis Karen Elliot House navigates the maze in which Saudi citizens find themselves trapped and reveals the mysterious nation that is the world’s largest exporter of oil, critical to global stability, and a source of Islamic terrorists.
In her probing and sharp-eyed portrait, we see Saudi Arabia, one of the last absolute monarchies in the world, considered to be the final bulwark against revolution in the region, as threatened by multiple fissures and forces, its levers of power controlled by a handful of elderly Al Saud princes with an average age of 77 years and an extended family of some 7,000 princes. Yet at least 60 percent of the increasingly restive population they rule is under the age of 20.
The author writes that oil-rich Saudi Arabia has become a rundown welfare state. The public pays no taxes; gets free education and health care; and receives subsidized water, electricity, and energy (a gallon of gasoline is cheaper in the Kingdom than a bottle of water), with its petrodollars buying less and less loyalty. House makes clear that the royal family also uses Islam’s requirement of obedience to Allah—and by extension to earthly rulers—to perpetuate Al Saud rule.
Behind the Saudi facade of order and obedience, today’s Saudi youth, frustrated by social conformity, are reaching out to one another and to a wider world beyond their cloistered country. Some 50 percent of Saudi youth is on the Internet; 5.1 million Saudis are on Facebook.
To write this book, the author interviewed most of the key members of the very private royal family. She writes about King Abdullah’s modest efforts to relax some of the kingdom’s most oppressive social restrictions; women are now allowed to acquire photo ID cards, finally giving them an identity independent from their male guardians, and are newly able to register their own businesses but are still forbidden to drive and are barred from most jobs.
With extraordinary access to Saudis—from key religious leaders and dissident imams to women at university and impoverished widows, from government officials and political dissidents to young successful Saudis and those who chose the path of terrorism—House argues that most Saudis do not want democracy but seek change nevertheless; they want a government that provides basic services without subjecting citizens to the indignity of begging princes for handouts; a government less corrupt and more transparent in how it spends hundreds of billions of annual oil revenue; a kingdom ruled by law, not royal whim.
In House’s assessment of Saudi Arabia’s future, she compares the country today to the Soviet Union before Mikhail Gorbachev arrived with reform policies that proved too little too late after decades of stagnation under one aged and infirm Soviet leader after another. She discusses what the next generation of royal princes might bring and the choices the kingdom faces: continued economic and social stultification with growing risk of instability, or an opening of society to individual initiative and enterprise with the risk that this, too, undermines the Al Saud hold on power.
A riveting book—informed, authoritative, illuminating—about a country that could...
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter who has spent the last thirty years writing about Saudi Arabia—as diplomatic correspondent, foreign editor, and then publisher of The Wall Street Journal—an important and timely book that explores all facets of life in this shrouded Kingdom: its tribal past, its complicated present, its precarious future.
Through observation, anecdote, extensive interviews, and analysis Karen Elliot House navigates the maze in which Saudi citizens find themselves trapped and reveals the mysterious nation that is the world’s largest exporter of oil, critical to global stability, and a source of Islamic terrorists.
In her probing and sharp-eyed portrait, we see Saudi Arabia, one of the last absolute monarchies in the world, considered to be the final bulwark against revolution in the region, as threatened by multiple fissures and forces, its levers of power controlled by a handful of elderly Al Saud princes with an average age of 77 years and an extended family of some 7,000 princes. Yet at least 60 percent of the increasingly restive population they rule is under the age of 20.
The author writes that oil-rich Saudi Arabia has become a rundown welfare state. The public pays no taxes; gets free education and health care; and receives subsidized water, electricity, and energy (a gallon of gasoline is cheaper in the Kingdom than a bottle of water), with its petrodollars buying less and less loyalty. House makes clear that the royal family also uses Islam’s requirement of obedience to Allah—and by extension to earthly rulers—to perpetuate Al Saud rule.
Behind the Saudi facade of order and obedience, today’s Saudi youth, frustrated by social conformity, are reaching out to one another and to a wider world beyond their cloistered country. Some 50 percent of Saudi youth is on the Internet; 5.1 million Saudis are on Facebook.
To write this book, the author interviewed most of the key members of the very private royal family. She writes about King Abdullah’s modest efforts to relax some of the kingdom’s most oppressive social restrictions; women are now allowed to acquire photo ID cards, finally giving them an identity independent from their male guardians, and are newly able to register their own businesses but are still forbidden to drive and are barred from most jobs.
With extraordinary access to Saudis—from key religious leaders and dissident imams to women at university and impoverished widows, from government officials and political dissidents to young successful Saudis and those who chose the path of terrorism—House argues that most Saudis do not want democracy but seek change nevertheless; they want a government that provides basic services without subjecting citizens to the indignity of begging princes for handouts; a government less corrupt and more transparent in how it spends hundreds of billions of annual oil revenue; a kingdom ruled by law, not royal whim.
In House’s assessment of Saudi Arabia’s future, she compares the country today to the Soviet Union before Mikhail Gorbachev arrived with reform policies that proved too little too late after decades of stagnation under one aged and infirm Soviet leader after another. She discusses what the next generation of royal princes might bring and the choices the kingdom faces: continued economic and social stultification with growing risk of instability, or an opening of society to individual initiative and enterprise with the risk that this, too, undermines the Al Saud hold on power.
A riveting book—informed, authoritative, illuminating—about a country that could...
Reviews-
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June 25, 2012
Famed for their “passivity” and “unquestioning acceptance of rules laid down by elders” as well as their fundamentalist, uncompromising outlook, the Saudis are intensely proud, but by and large, have no say in the functioning of their country. The internal contradictions of a medieval theocracy in thrall to modern-day petrocapitalism give Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist House ample material as she interviews princes and terrorists, millionaire playboys and destitute widows, muftis and engineers. Being a foreign woman, she has entrée into both male and female spheres, and the chapter on women is among the most illuminating; though the “overwhelming majority of women are totally subjugated by religion, tradition, and family,” “activist women... can be found scattered across Saudi society.” Chapters on disenfranchised youth, the sclerotic education system, the opaque succession procedures of the ruling dynasty, and the kingdom’s foreign policy each suggest ways in which the country’s potential is being stymied by fear of change, and identify points of conflict that could presage wider unrest. While cogently written, this slim volume is also repetitive and superficial. The same details recur throughout, and the reader emerges with only a basic understanding of the all-important relationship between the religious and political authorities, or of the mechanics of an economy in which 90% of private-sector workers are foreigners. Agent: Janklow & Nesbit. -
September 15, 2012
Former Wall Street Journal reporter and publisher House delivers a well-researched, informative book about Saudi Arabian society and where she believes it is headed. The author interviewed a wide variety of Saudi Arabians, including rich and poor, Muslim fundamentalist and modern. Among the subjects is a devout Muslim woman who hosted House for several days in hopes of converting her to Islam. House was not allowed to speak to the woman's husband and was covered from head to toe the one time she was in close quarters with him. On the other end of the spectrum, a young Saudi Arabian female journalist runs an all-girls soccer team, goes to private beaches and has dinner with male friends. She leads a life resembling that of any young woman in the West. House also interviewed reformed terrorists whom the Saudi Arabian government provided with jobs and homes in exchange for repenting. She follows developments in women's rights, such as efforts to change the court system, which favors males. House succeeds in capturing the diversity of Saudi society, painting a more complex picture than the caricature of oil wells and extreme wealth, but a smug authorial tone occasionally creeps in. She references the "passivity" of Saudi people in relation to their government, as if overthrowing a dictator who has no qualms about cutting off people's limbs is an easy task. House claims that the country demonstrates Marx's statement about religion being the opium of the masses, a contention that disregards how a ruthless religious dictatorship can enforce religious practices. Fortunately, for most of the book, House sticks to the facts. Good reading for readers interested in learning about the Saudi Arabia that lies beyond the image of a wealthy country with unlimited money from oil, but some of the author's opinions should be taken with a grain of salt.COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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April 15, 2012
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and then foreign editor of the Wall Street Journal, House has been familiarizing herself with Saudi Arabia over 30 years. Here she draws on her access to the ruling Al Saud family to paint a portrait of a country central to Middle East politics and America's future--it's our second largest oil supplier. With a 40,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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September 1, 2012
Saudi Arabia, ruled by the royal Al Saud family, provides one of every four barrels of oil exported around the world. It is a little-understood nation of inordinate importance to the rest of the globe. As the Arab Spring has transformed other oil-producing nations in the Middle East, forcing developed nations to consider democratic ideals versus oil economies, Saudi Arabia has so far managed to stay outside that debate despite its repressive regime. House, Pulitzer Prizewinning reporter and former Wall Street Journal correspondent, spent five years traveling the kingdom to study a society she calls Islam Inc., owned and operated by the Al Saud royal family for generations. By exploiting deep religious, tribal, and regional differences for hundreds of years, the Sauds rely on an Islam that demands obedience of men, who demand obedience of women, and allows for no questioning of authority, despite widespread poverty, unemployment, and roiling discontent. House explores the history and fragility of the royal family and the interplay of religion, economics, and culture as well as the forces of modernity, including the Internet, that promise transformation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.) -
September 15, 2012
After spending roughly 30 years as a journalist in Saudi Arabia, House sets out here to examine its history and explain its political and social climate. This well-written exploration uncovers many of the hushed feelings and beliefs of Saudis from various walks of life. Outlining the rise to power of the House of Saud (Al Saud) and examining the ongoing political corruption under the guise of religious adherence, House reveals the hypocrisy in the royal family's policies. She believes that the Al Saud's attempts at governing through a balancing act of avoidance and appeasement has caused it to lose legitimacy. With 60 percent of the population under 20 years of age, high unemployment, religious divisions, a lack of economic diversity, and increased exposure to other ways of life via television and the Internet, House speculates that Saudi Arabia's people will demand a drastic change in the policies of the royal family or else the people will forces changes on the royal family. VERDICT This work is well suited for anyone with a serious interest in Middle East studies or the region's domestic and international affairs. It is an easy read likely to encourage discussion and debate.--Brenna Smeall, ReferenceUSA, Papillion, NE
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
- The Kansas City Star "A deeply reported look at an increasingly complicated and fragile society."
- The New York Times Book Review "Drawing on thirty years of research and reporting . . . [House] skillfully unveils this inscrutable place for regional specialists and general readers alike."
- The Huffington Post "A well-written exposé . . . an unblemished and objective assessment of the Saudi worldview . . . provides creative insights into how best to engage the Saudis in a productive dialogue."
- Rachel Newcomb, The Washington Post "Fascinating . . . House's exploration of the inner workings of Saudi society adds considerable weight to her assertions that the problems of succession, the decline of oil reserves, and a population with limited opportunities for employment or self-fulfillment are potential powder kegs . . . an important book that offers insights into the kingdom's fault lines, as well as gentle suggestions for a positive diplomacy that encourages modest reforms."
- Seth Lipsky, The New York Sun "House . . . is one of the wiliest and most determined newspaperwomen of her generation . . . a gem of reporting on one of the hardest stories to crack . . . illuminating . . . masterful."
- Kirkus "Well-researched, informative . . . succeeds in capturing the diversity of Saudi society, painting a more complex picture than the caricature of oil wells and extreme wealth."
- The New Republic "Entertaining and lucidly drawn . . . unique in that it mostly avoids the shallow analysis of instant experts, while also forgoing the jargon and sometimes incomprehensible theorizing of academic texts . . . a vivid and rarely seen picture of this closed state . . . eloquent and timely . . . Presenting these issues in a readable yet serious book is a rare feat indeed, and [House] should be commended for it."
- Henry A. Kissinger "An engaging and lucid exploration of Saudi politics and culture . . . recommended reading for all those seeking a new perspective on one of the world's most consequential societies."
- Publishers Weekly "The internal contradictions of a medieval theocracy in thrall to modern-day petrocapitalism give Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist House ample material . . . Illuminating . . . cogently written."
- Graham Allison, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University "An incisive analysis of divisive dynamics inside the world's most important supplier of oil. House asks hard questions about the future of Saudi Arabia."
- George P Shultz "A new and different view of Saudi Arabia from the ground up that offers a valuable assessment of where the kingdom is and where it might go. A stimulating and worthwhile read."
- Zbigniew Brzezinski "Karen House's On Saudi Arabia is a book that future Saudi leaders should read carefully. It exposes incisively and dispassionately the social contradictions and the potential political vulnerabilities of contemporary Saudi Arabia. A timely and truly important book."
