Networking of Relations with Its Neighbours and in International Levels - Coursework Example

Do you agree that the concept of core values in International Relations is not being applied in its spirit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Either way, justify your answer with the help of examples. Introduction As per CIA World Fact book 2012, the Saudi Arabia remained as the 23rd largest economy of the world with the GDP (PPP) of Saudi Arabia is $740.5 billion. Further, Saudi Arabia is maintaining the highest per-capita incomes in the region, which is about $25,700. In 2012, Saudi Arabia’s GDP grew by an estimated 6%. Unemployment in 2012 in Saudi Arabia was high at about 10.7%. Oil & gas reserves are the main source of Saudi-Arabian economy, which supplies about eighty percent of Saudi government’s budgeted revenues. Oil income occupies 45% of its GDP and 90% of its export income. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia’s economy is rather susceptible due to its high level of dependence on oil and natural gas production, but it has proven reserve of 264.6 billion barrels, which should ensure its continued output of oil for many number of years in the future (Eurasiacenter 2013). This research essay will discuss in detail about the concept of core values in International Relations which is not being applied in its spirit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the suitable illustration on the subject. Networking of relations with its neighbours and in international levels The modern Saudi Arabia is exerting more emphasis on establishing robust networks of cooperation both in the region and in the international level. At the international global level, it became the member of the U.N. in 1945 immediately after the establishment of the UN organization. It has enrolled in various international organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and World Trade organisation. On the regional side, it was a founding member of OPEC (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), Muslim World League, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. It is also very keen in establishing the Arab Customs Union by 2015 and Arab Common Market by 2020. As per Saudi Foreign Ministry, the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia is strongly footed upon a soft-power structure which is established upon the following goals and principles: Non-intervention in other nation’s internal affairs , maintaining good –neighbour policy , fortifying relations with the Gulf States and the nations in the Arabian Peninsula , to fortify and strengthen the relationship with Islamic and Arab nations for the benefit of common interest of these nations , and to sort out their issues and to follow non-alignment policy, to maintain cooperation and good relations with the friendly nations and to plan an effective part in the regional and international organisations. Saudi Arabia’s international policy is footed upon four multilateral networks: the Arab community, the Gulf States, the Muslim community and the international community. Being an active member of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), Saudi Arabia (herein after will be referred as SA) is able to establish sound cooperation on issues that have both internal and trans-border impacts for all of its members. Saudi Arabia is giving more priority for maintaining its image as the Muslim’s world foremost leader which acts as a key foreign policy priority of Saudi Arabia. (Al-Yahya and Fustier 2011), Woollacott (2002) opposes the view that the resulting position of SAs authority banks upon either on its vast oil reserves or its cooperation and current alliance with the U.S (Woollacott 2002). Saudi Arabia’s most significant international issues and objectives rest in peace, security and stability nor only in the Middle East but also by maintaining peace , security and favourable association within their other geo-strategic circles of interest like among Arab nations , Muslim nations and with the U.S. and with the other regions of the world. As it has traditionally maintained its armed forces limited in favour of a vibrant National Guard , SA(Saudi Arabia) needs a good deal of soft power at the global level for its security (Gallarotti G & Filali 2014:19). Further, SAs oil money has traditionally been the chief source of SA hard power with the help of its strategic power both internationally and domestically, which facilitated to buy a great magnitude of security both in the form of regional and international support. SAs security is to a vast magnitude been maneuvered by the state of relations within these contradictory atmospheres between U.S. and the anti-American regimes both in the Muslim world and in the Middle East ¸ within the OPEC and the recent Arab Spring. SAs ability to efficiently to maintain the middle ground and to make both sides appeased on critical issues which is regarded as Kingdom’s most effective soft power resources. As per Dickinson (2012), given the importance of all these sets of association, and the SAs soft power, we can claim that the Saudi’s are among the most significant nations of the world as regards to global security (Dickinson 2012). The efforts of the Nasser, the erstwhile Egyptian President to overthrow the Al Saud family in the 1950s and 1960S, for instance, was marshalled through a soft power which the Egypt could not succeed. The counter initiatives taken by Al Saud to declare Islam as the founding stone of regional governance demonstrated stronger than Nasser’s nationalist appeal (Gallarotti & Filali 2014:19). SA has made dramatic progress in enhancing many features for its security. Qatar and Saudi Arabia had border and political problems for many centuries, and both had announced in December 2008 that border issues had been resolved. As a result, SA re-established its diplomatic relations with Qatar. Enhancing security cooperation among GCC nations still remains as a major confront, but cooperation prolongs to enhance both in its initiatives to foster military interoperability and with the help of military joint exercises. SA is also conducting joint military exercises with European forces and U.S.A, and it has become a noteworthy partner in global initiatives to fight extremism and terrorism. Due to its soft power approach, though Arab-Israel conflict continues, Israel does not visualise SA a significant threat to its internal security. SA is exercising more cautious approach with Iran as it is acquiring long-range missiles and may become a nuclear power in the near future. Hence, it exerts indirect pressure on U.S.A.to desist Iran from nuclear production. SA concluded a border settlement with Yemen and offers support and aid to Yemen’s government. SA is making a cautious approach towards Yemen as it aware that Yemen is the source of the infiltration of arms , explosives and terrorism into SA and for the majority of the Al Qaeda’s attack in the Arabian Peninsula (Cordesman 2009:6). Judicial system The concept of core values in International Relations as regards to judicial system demands that there should be judicial independence. Further, judicial independence helps to accomplish political fairness and stability. Further, judicial independence is essential for the development of sound and healthy economies. Judicial independence helps to guarantee the rule of law which is essential to forbid injustice, inefficiency, and arbitrary rule. Judicial system of Saudi Arabia is based upon Islamic Shari’a. Saudi Arabia foots its judicial independence in Shari’a principles. The Supreme Judicial Council which is appointed by Saudi King in Saudi Arabia has the authority to review the lower’s court’s decisions and ask them to reconsider their verdicts if it feels appropriate. It has an authority either to remove or discipline a judge. A body of senior religious jurists which is known as the Council of Senior Religious Scholars frames out the legal principles to decide the cases by the lower-court judges. Provincial governors have the power to declare clemency and can minimise the sentences awarded by a Judge. Capital punishment may be pardoned by the King except capital crimes committed against individuals (Cordesman 2009:290). “Social Reform and Order” Saudi King Abdullah came to power he was considered as a reformer. However, no major reforms were announced by King Abdulla. King Abdulla taken some initiatives, which were considered as further embedding conservative Wahhabi power over the Saudi society while offering its citizens with easier ways to break away from it provisionally. Reform policies introduced by King Abdullah in the Saudi social sphere can be summarised by the expressions of “controlling pressure” and “establishing sources for relief.” King Abdullah does not relax the authority enjoyed by the religious institutions that have major impact on Saudi’s everyday life but restricted their influence without cancelling any of them Opposingly, the regime does not obviously enhance the magnitude of freedom that Saudis enjoy, but establish sources of relief, in the guise of places to let off their feelings that make the system intact (Aarts 2011:29). “International Relations and Human Rights” Saudi Arabia is often censured for its civil and human rights record. Saudi Arabia is notorious for the denial of women’s rights, political power, lack of press freedom, lack of freedoms of speech, and as well as lack of religious freedom. Western countries like U.S.A have vigilantly advocated for, and attained, some negligible reforms, but as Saudi Arabia happens to be too significant of a military and economic confederate to risk displeasing with a major thrust for reform. In 2013, a Saudi ministerial committee decided to put a full stop to their public execution by beheading as there is a shortage of official government swordsmen to carry out the same. As with many conventional governments, it will take time for Saudi Arabia to have progress in these provinces. Human rights occupies a significant role in international relations of any country, and Saudi Arabia is not an exception to this. Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 by UN General Assembly and human right was included in the UN Charter. Universal human rights instruments are footed upon the presumption that they mirror universally acknowledged norms of demeanour. It is alleged that Saudi Arabia is actively engaged in the oppression of religious minorities, particularly Shiites, who are arrested on continuous basis and being sentenced for publicising their concerns. The main aim of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is to ensure signatory states to protect fundament rights like right to practice their own religion, right to express their opinions, free speech, and right to assemble. These are all commonly violated by Saudi Arabia as it is not a signatory to the above international human rights document. Wahhabi moral supremacy still dominates Saudi Arabia and hence, Shiites are witnessing arbitrary arrest and imprisonment if they try to engage in prayers in mainstream mosques. This demonstrates that Shiites are being treated as “untouchables” in Saudi Arabia with no fundamental rights and no protection from the State. Saudi government has endeavoured to infiltrate into most private domains of “religious outcast” so as to prevent their irreligious practices. With its ‘puritan ‘narrative of Islam, the Wahhabi state, does not differentiate between the public sphere and private sphere. The Saudi government has followed a totalitarian approach in commanding its regime of truth, thus forbidding other groups and individuals from following any other religion and political narrative that is not in full adherence with its official faith of state. Despite the fact that Saudi ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), it is yet to offer equal rights to its women citizens. The practice of imposition of male guardians on adult women to work and not permitting women to drive the car in Saudi Arabia are the best examples of how women’s rights are infringed in SA systematically (Shahi 2013:156). Social Welfare The recent Arab Spring has its impact on the Saudi Arabia to a larger extent. The Saudi ruling family has a vested interest to maintain peace and tranquillity in the region not only to safeguard its power but also to see that the other Middle Eastern monarchies also stays in power. Saudi Arabia, in fact, helped Bahrain to quell the protests so that such spring cannot travel into Saudi Arabia. Further, Saudi Arabia is also constantly working with other monarchies in the Middle East, and has been promoting and nurturing the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) expansion with the inclusion of Jordan and Morocco. The ruling Al-Saud family in Saudi Arabia has the authority and money to quell the protest better than other monarchies in the region. In 2011, the Saudi government announced $ 1.36 bn towards social welfare initiatives with a faith that it would forbid the call for political reform. Presently, the Al-Saud government is working to promote foreign investment by expending $373 billion between 2010 and 2014. This funding is meant to ignite social development and to expand infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, mainly to promote Saudi economic development (Wagemakers, Kanie and Geel 2012: 80). Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian state, and Saudi civil society has to function within that frontiers. There is no clear dividing line is available between the government and the civil society. There is no participatory governance in Saudi Arabia, and the civil society has only very restricted power to influence policies. Top-down authority is seen in civil-society and it is being controlled and managed from top to down. For operating civil association, government has put civil restrictions. An association in Saudi Arabia cannot function without the help of a royal family member. Thus, royal family in Saudi Arabia is exercising its indirect influence over the civil society in this way. Majority of the civil society members in Saudi Arabia is fully aware that they have to cooperate with the state. As in other democratic societies, change through protest cannot work in Saudi Arabia. Thus, Saudi citizens cannot force a change but a change can be accomplished by working closely with the government without antagonising it Thus, by working close with the Saudi government, Saudi civil society is able to achieve the following. Starting from 2013, King Abdullah has announced that women are permitted to serve on the formal advisory body and in 2015 women will be permitted to exercise their vote and to stand in election in municipal council elections(Wagemakers, Kanie and Geel 2012: 80). 9/11 attack ushered a boost to the Saudi-Arabian civil society as the Saudi Arabia had learned a hard lesson over it. Thus, Saudi Arabia had learnt that the danger of tilting completely towards conservatives ‘Ulama’ and understood that it requires to open towards other sections of society also so as to establish balance between various societal forces. Due to this, now Saudi-Arabian government has allowed a greater flexibility for discourses that encourage flexibility, tolerance, acceptance of pluralism and openness (Wagemakers, Kanie and Geel 2012: 80). Conclusion Thus, from the above discussion, we can understand that Saudi Arabia has achieved some mile stone in international relations in the area of networking of relations with its neighbours and in international levels but the concept of core values in International Relations is not being applied in its spirit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the areas like human rights, social welfare, social reform and order and judicial system. Saudi Arabia has to go long way to introduce concept of core values in International Relations in the above-mentioned areas. List of References Aarts, P. (2011) Maintaining Authoritarianism: The Jerky Path of Political Reform in Saudi Arabia. Orient, Vol 52. (1) 29-42 Al-Yahya K & Fustier N. (2011) Saudi Arabia as a Humanitarian Donor. Berlin: Global Public Policy Institute Cordesman, AH. (2009) Saudi Arabia: National Security in a Troubled Region. New York: ABC-CLIO Dickinson, E. (2012). Saudi King out to Build Bridges with Tehran. [online] available from < http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/saudi-king-out-to-build-bridges-with-Tehran> [accessed 8 December 2014] Eurasiacenter. (2013) Saudi Arabia – Country Report. [Online] available from < www.eurasiacenter.org/.../Saudi%20Arabia%20Country%20Report.doc> [accessed 8 February 2014] Gallarotti G & Filali IYA. (2014) The Soft Power of Saudi Arabia. International Studies, 49 (3&4) Shahi, A. (2013) The Politics of Truth Management in Saudi Arabia. New York: Routledge Wagemakers J, Kanie M & Geel A V. (2012) Saudi Arabia between conservatism, Accommodation and Reform. The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations Woollacott, M. (2002) ‘Soft Power can win the Battle for Hearts and Minds.’ The Guardian, August 2 Read More