Saudi Arabia

(see also Petroleum Trade & Gulf States)

Basics:

CIA World Factbook. Includes map.

New Internationalist Profile.

UN Development Program, Human Development Indicators.

World Guide.

On the Web: Articles

The Geopolitics of War. Michael T. Klare, Nation (11/5/01). Real center of conflict is Saudi Arabia, not Afghanistan.

A Wall of Denial Foils Investigators. Paul Salopek, Chicago Tribune (10/20/01). Saudis reluctant to help with 9/11probe, deny their citizens could have been involved.

The High, Hidden Cost of Saudi Arabian Oil. Neela Banerjee, NY Times (10/21/01). Dependence on Saudi oil may hamper 9/11 investigation & war on terrorism.

Oil Omissions: Bush Sr, Cheney Have Big Stakes in Saudi Status Quo. Laura Flanders (10/18/01). More on oil angle; and George Bush senior's ties to Saudis.

Arab Street Contradicts the Silence of Its Leaders. K. Vick & H. Schneider, Washington Post (10/9/01). Egyptian & Saudi reactions to US bombing of Afghanistan.

Think Before You Bomb. Michael Jansen, Al-Ahram (10/4/01).

The Kingdom of Corruption: the Saudi Connection. Tariq Ali, Znet (9/23/01).

On the Web: Specialized Sites

Al Bawaba: Middle East Gateway. Section for each country.

Al-Jazeera.

Middle East Research & Information Project. Publishers of indispensable MERIP Report.

Saudi Politics.

In the Library: Articles:

Baer, Robert. "The fall of the House of Saud," Atlantic (5/03):53-62.

Hersh, S. M. "King’s ransom. How vulnerable are the Saudi royals?" New Yorker (10/22/01):35-9.

Hiro, Dilip. "Saudis: US go home?" Nation (3/11/02):5-6.

Mayer, Jane. "The house of Bin Laden. A family’s, and a nation’s, divided loyalties," New Yorker (11/12/01):54-65.

MacShane, Denis. "Gulf migrant labor: working in virtual slavery," Nation (3/18/91).

Nolte, Richard H. "From nomad society to new nation," in Kalman Silvert (ed.) Expectant Peoples: Nationalism & Development (NY: Vintage, 1967), pp. 77-94. Useful background in concise form.

Roston, Aram. "A royal scandal," Nation (12/2/01):16. Saudi corruption & the weapons trade.

Silverstein, Ken. "Saudis & Americans: friends in need," Nation (12/3/01). Analysis of the alliance.

Walsh, Elsa. "The prince," New Yorker (3/24/03):47-63. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the US.

Wright, Lawrence. "The kingdom of silence," New Yorker (1/5/04):48-73. Saudi society as seen from a newspaper office in Jiddah.

In the Library: Non-Fiction Books:

Aburish, Said. The Rise, Corruption & Coming Fall of the House of Saud (London: Bloomsbury, 1994).

__________. A Brutal Friendship: The West & the Arab Elite (London: Victor Gollancz, 1997).

Al-Munajjed, Mona. Women in Saudi Arabia Today (NY, 1997).

Altorki, Soraya. Women in Saudi Arabia: Ideology & Behavior among the Elite (NY, 1986).

Amnesty International. Saudi Arabia: Religious Intolerance. The Arrest, Detention & Torture of Christian Worshippers & Shi'a Muslims (NY, 1993).

__________. Saudi Arabia, Unwelcome "Guests": The Plight of Iraqi Refugees (NY, 1994).

__________. Saudi Arabia: Behind Closed Doors. Unfair Trials in Saudi Arabia (NY, 1997).

__________. Saudi Arabia: Gross Human Rights Abuses Against Women (NY, 2000).

__________. Saudi Arabia: A Justice System without Justice (NY, 2000).

__________. Saudi Arabia: A Secret State of Suffering (NY, 2000).

Anderson, Irvine J. Aramco, the US & Saudi Arabia: A Study in the Dynamics of Foreign Oil Policy (Princeton, 1981).

Casillas, Rex J. Oil & Diplomacy: The Evolution of American Foreign Policy in Saudi Arabia, 1933-1945 (NY, 1987).

Champion, Daryl. The Paradoxical Kingdom: Saudi Arabia & the Momentum of Reform (NY: Columbia, 2003).

Citino, Nathan J. From Arab Nationalism to OPEC (Bloomington: Indiana U., 2003).

Cordesman, Anthony. Saudi Arabia: Guarding the Desert Kingdom (Boulder: Westview, 1997).

Doumato, Eleanor Abdella. Getting God's Ear: Women, Islam & Healing in Saudi Arabia & the Gulf (NY, 2000).

Emerson, Steven. The American House of Saud: The Secret Petrodollar Connection (NY, 1985).

Esposito, John. Saudi Arabia: The Flexibility of Islamic Fundamentalism (Washington, 1981).

Gause, Gregory III. Oil Monarchies: Domestic & Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States (NY: Council on Foreign Relations, 1994).

Hart, Parker T. Saudi Arabia & the US: Birth of a Security Partnership (Bloomington: U. Indiana, 1998).

Holden, David & Richard Johns. The House of Saud: The Rise & Rule of the Most Powerful Dynasty in the Arab World (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1981).

Human Rights Watch. Empty Reforms: Saudi Arabia's New Basic Laws (NY, 1994).

Jerichow, Anders. Saudi Arabia: Outside Global Law & Order (Surrey: Curzon, 1997).

__________ The Saudi File: People, Power, Politics (NY: St. Martin's, 1998).

Kostiner, Joseph. The Making of Saudi Arabia, 1916 to 1936: From Chieftaincy to Monarchical State (NY: Oxford, 1993).

Lawson, Fred Haley. Opposition Movements & US Policy toward the Arab Gulf States (NY: Council on Foreign Relations, 1992).

Long, David E. The US & Saudi Arabia: Ambivalent Allies (Boulder: Westview, 1985).

__________. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Gainesville: U. Florida, 1997).

Miller, Miranda. A Thousand and One Coffee Mornings: Scenes from Saudi Arabia (London: Peter Owen, 1989).

Rathmell, Andrew. The Changing Military Balance in the Gulf (London: Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies, 1996).

Schwartz, Stephen. The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror (NY: Doubleday, 2002).

Simons, G.L. Saudi Arabi: The Shape of a Client Feudalism (NY: St. Martin's, 1998).

Unger, Craig. House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties (NY: Scribner, 2004).

Yamani, Mai. Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2000).

In the Library: Fiction

Bogary, Hamza. The Sheltered Quarter: A Tale of a Boyhood in Mecca (trans. Olive Kenny & Jeremy Reed; Austin: U. Texas, 1991).

Briley, John. The First Stone: A Novel (NY: W. Morrow, 1997).

Chandraratna, Bandula. An Eye for an Eye (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001).

Khashoggi, Saheir. Mirage (NY: Forge, 1996).

Mantel, Hilary. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (London: Vikling, 1988).

Nasr Allah, Ibrahim. Prairies of Fever: A Novel (trans. May Jayyusi & Jeremy Reed; NY: Interlink, 1993).

Sutcliff, Rosemary. Blood & Sand (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1987).

CD & Audio:

Film & Video:

"Saudi Time Bomb?" (2001), produced by Martin Smith & Lowell Bergman for Frontline. PBS Home Video.