Saudi Arabia: Contemporary Saudi Arabia

As a result of Saudi Arabia's increased wealth, its quest for stability, and its improved relations with Western nations, the country began an extensive military build-up in the 1970s. On Mar. 25, 1975, King Faisal was assassinated by his nephew Prince Faisal. Crown Prince Khalid (Khalid bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud) then became the new king, stressing Islamic orthodoxy and conservatism while expanding the country's economy, its social programs, and its educational structures. Saudi Arabia denounced the 1979 agreement between Israel and Egypt and terminated diplomatic relations with Egypt (since renewed). Saudi leaders opposed both the leftist and radical movements that were growing throughout the Arab world, and in the 1970s sent troops to help quell leftist revolutions in Yemen and Oman.

Saudi religious interests were threatened by the fall of Iran's shah in 1979 and by the growth of Islamic fundamentalism. In Nov., 1979, Muslim fundamentalists calling for the overthrow of the Saudi government occupied the Great Mosque in Mecca. After two weeks of fighting the siege ended, leaving a total of 27 Saudi soldiers and over 100 rebels dead. Sixty-three more rebels were later publicly beheaded. In 1980, Shiite Muslims led a series of riots that were put down by the government, which promised to reform the distribution of Saudi wealth. Saudi Arabia supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War throughout the 1980s. In May, 1981, it joined Persian Gulf nations in the formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to promote economic cooperation between the participating countries. Khalid died in June, 1982, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Prince Fahd bin Abdul Aziz.

By the early 1980s, Saudi Arabia had gained full ownership of Aramco. Saudi support of Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War became increasingly problematic in the mid-1980s as Iran's threats, especially regarding oil interests, nearly led to Saudi entanglement in the war. Iranian pilgrims rioted in Mecca during the hajj in 1987, causing clashes with Saudi security troops. More than 400 people were killed. This incident, along with Iranian naval attacks on Saudi ships in the Persian Gulf, caused Saudi Arabia to break diplomatic relations with Iran.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in Aug., 1990, King Fahd agreed to the stationing of U.S. and international coalition troops on Saudi soil. Thousands of Saudi troops participated in the Persian Gulf War (1991) against Iraq. The country took in Kuwait's royal family and more than 400,000 Kuwaiti refugees. Though little ground fighting occurred in Saudi Arabia, the cities of Riyadh, Dhahran, and outlying areas were bombed by Iraqi missiles. Coalition troops largely left Saudi Arabia in late 1991; several thousand U.S. troops remained. In 1995 and 1996 terrorist bombings in Riyadh and Dharan killed several American servicemen.

Following the Gulf War, King Fahd returned to a conservative Arab stance, wary of greater Western cooperation. Reforms instituted in the wake of the Gulf War included the revival of the Consultative Council, or Shura, with rights to review but not overrule government acts, promulgation of a bill of rights, and a revision in the procedures for choosing the king. However, these measures left the royal family's power basically undiminished. In 1995 the king created a Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, composed of royal family members and other appointees, in an apparent effort to establish a counterweight to the Ulemas Council, an advisory body of highly conservative Muslim theologians.

In the late 1990s, Crown Prince Abdullah, the king's half-brother and heir to the throne since 1982, effectively became the country's ruler because of King Fahd's poor health. Under the crown prince, the country was more openly frustrated with and critical of U.S. support for Israel. A treaty with Yemen that ended border disputes dating to the 1930s was signed in 2000, and early the next year both nations withdrew their troops from the border area in compliance with the pact.

The Saudi government restricted the use of American bases in the country during the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), and by Sept., 2003, all U.S. combat forces were withdrawn from the country. Also in 2003, a decree gave the Consultative Council the authority to propose new laws without first seeking his permission. The move was perhaps prompted in part by rare protests in favor of government reform; the kingdom also was shaken by violent incidents, including a massive car bomb attack against a residential compound in Riyadh, involving Islamic militants. Such terror attacks continued into 2005.

The country held elections for municipal councils in Feb.—Apr., 2005, permitting voters (men only) to choose half the council members; the rest of the members were still appointed. King Fahd died in Aug., 2005, and was succeeded by Abdullah. In Nov., 2009, fighting in N Yemen spilled over into Saudi Arabia when Yemeni Shiite rebels (Houthis) crossed the border. Saudi forces fought the rebels and sought to drive them back into Yemen and away from the border; the conflict ended by Feb., 2010, with the rebels withdrawn into Yemen (and a truce established there).

In early 2011 Saudi Arabia experienced relatively small-scale antigovernment protests compared to other Arab nations, and those were at times harshly suppressed; many demonstrations involved Shiites. Protests and confrontations continued to a limited degree into 2012. Saudi forces also helped suppress antigovernment demonstrations in neighboring Bahrain. At the same time, the government lavished funds on government employee bonuses, low-income housing, and religious organizations. Later in the year, the king announced that women, who have had limited civil rights in the country, would be allowed to participate in municipal elections after 2011 and would serve on the Consultative Council.

King Abdullah died in Jan., 2015, and was succeeded by Crown Prince Salman, his half brother. Saudi forces have led Arab air attacks against Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen since Yemen's president was forced to flee the country in Mar., 2015. Subsequently, as the war continued, there also were clashes along the Saudi-Yemen border, naval and air blockades of Yemen, Houthi ballistic missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, and a 2019 drone attack against Saudi facilities that Iran was accused of mounting. The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric, as part of mass execution of 47 condemned prisoners in Jan., 2016, was bitterly condemned by Iran; Saudi Arabia then broke off diplomatic relations with Iran.

In June, 2017, King Salman named his son Mohammed bin Salman crown prince, replacing his nephew and former heir apparent Mohammed bin Nayef. The king had previously appointed his son defense minister and head of a council charged with overseeing the economy. Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, and a few other nations, broke diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June, 2017, accusing it of supporting jihadi groups and destabilizing the region. Qatar rejected the nations' accusations and demands, and when tensions eased in Jan., 2021, the pre-2017 situation was largely restored as well.

In Nov., 2017, an anticorruption drive led to the investigation of several hundred prominent Saudis, many of whom paid large settlements and were pardoned (while also remaining under government surveillance); the campaign, which was declared ended in Jan., 2019, also was seen in part as an attempt by Mohammed bin Salman, regarded as the country's de facto ruler, to consolidate his power. The country also sought that month to force Lebanon's prime minister, Saad Hariri, to resign, in a possible attempt to discredit Hezbollah, and moved to suppress dissidents at home and abroad.

The Oct., 2018, murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, led the Turkish government to denounce and discredit the Saudis repeatedly, as the Saudis first denied that any killing had taken place and then several times changed their story concerning the killing before announcing arrests in the case. The murder provoked international outrage and damaged the reputation of the country and of Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudis denied that he had any knowledge of the murder, but Turkish officials accused several of his security officials of involvement, and a UN investigation said (2019) there was credible evidence of the crown prince's involvement. In Mar., 2020, the king's full brother and the former crown prince were arrested; the two were seen as potential rivals to the crown prince's succession.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Contemporary Saudi Arabia
• Development of the Modern State
• Origins of Saudi Arabia
• Government
• Economy
• People
• Land

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