The Cabinet of Bin Saud and the Age of Anxiety - Research Paper Example

The last 20-30 years is an important part of the history of my country; this period stood witness to different events that lead to the founding of our country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By 1916, at the onset of World War 1 and with support from the allies, most of the Arabian tribes of the peninsula waged a war of independence against the Ottoman Empire (Al-Rasheed 41).

By 1902, our king Abdul-Aziz bin Saud returned from exile and started to unite the different Arabian tribes under his leadership; and by 1932, our king Abdul-Aziz bin Saud united the kingdoms of Nejd and Hejaz and founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under his leadership (Al-Rasheed 72). Oil was also discovered in our country by 1935, with our country, granting oil concessions to Standard Oil of California (Bowen 104). Larger international trends in the last 20 years included the worldwide Great Depression, the founding of new countries from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the rise of authoritarian governments in Russia, Italy, Germany, and Japan (“An Age of Anxiety” n. p.).

What is your response to the Great Depression? Does this signal capitalism’s demise or simply the need to fix certain elements of it? By the time of the Great Depression, my country was not yet established as it is now, and our present king Abdul-Aziz bin Saud was busy putting down the rebellion of the Ikhwan (an Islamic religious militia composed of different Bedouin tribes) from 1927-1930 (Al-Rasheed 66). During this time, my country was (and is still) largely influenced by the Wahhabi variety of Islam and the influential Mutawwaa, which has a resentment against the domination of the capitalist British Empire over the Arab region (Al-Rasheed 62).

In this case, I think that the Great Depression does not signal capitalism’s demise, but that some elements of it must be fixed; capitalism has benefited my country, especially in the presence of oil revenues from the oil concessions that our country gave to capitalist oil corporations. What is your opinion of the experiment happening in the Soviet Union? At the time when the Soviet Union is experimenting with state socialism, our king Abdul-Aziz bin Saud is busy uniting the tribes of central Arabia, which was to be the foundation of modern Saudi Arabia.

I think that the experiment of the Soviet Union would only lead to failure because their principles in building a new society are not aligned with Allah’s will and with Islamic laws, as prescribed by the muttawwa and the imams (Al-Rasheed 49). What are the implications of new authoritarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan? Is there a future for democracy? I think that the new authoritarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan would only result in a new scramble for wealth, power, and prestige from the different colonies that they have conquered, as this is what we have witnessed here in the Arab region under Ottoman, and then British domination (Al-Rasheed 41).

However, I still think that there is still a future for democracy, especially in the democratic model of the United States; our deepening relationship with the United States starting from our economic ties since the discovery of the oil fields and the development of our ties with the US has shown that democracy in society would lead to prosperity (Bowen 102). What is the future of imperialism? Will it strengthen or weaken? I think that the future of imperialism would be the weakening of the colonial powers, and the assertion of the independence of colonies searching for a national identity.

I also think that former colonies will soon grow tired of the domination of their societies by colonial powers, and would soon seek the chance to trace and make their destiny. This was also the inspiration of the Arabs as we have struggled for our independence, starting from our revolts against the Ottoman Empire (Wynbrandt 164), and the struggle to found our nation from our own Islamic identity and the unification of the different Arab tribes of the Arabian Peninsula (Wynbrandt 187).

Based on our own experiences, I think those other Arab states, as well as other colonies entire the world, will seek to throw off the forces of their colonial masters and would try to assert their independence and build their own countries. Based on your knowledge of the contemporary world, which country provides the best model for social, political, and economic development? From my knowledge of the contemporary world, I think that the country that provides the best model for social, political, and economic development would be the model of the United States.

Starting from the exploration of oil in our country by American geologists and investors in 1935 (Bowen 104) to laying the foundations of the oil industry in our country, capitalist development of our oil industry has transformed our kingdom and brought us the finances to be able to transform our country to be a progressive, modern state in the world. Our deepening relationship with the United States has brought great economic development for our country (Al-Rasheed 93), and great benefit for our people, making me believe that the model set by the United States would be one of the best models to follow.