Similarities and Differences between the USA and Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

?Introduction Societies across the world differ in many ways. These differences are brought about by religion, old and new customs, economic development, politics and value of freedom. As a result, how people behave in one part of the world is different from how another society at the other end of the world behave. In Saudi Arabia, people’s way of life, the economy and politics are guided by the Islamic religion and their old customs. In contrast, the American society is guided by freedom and economic development. United States methods, therefore, differ from the Saudi people’s method. This study will compare and contrast the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to United States with regard to religion, politics, social behavior and economic development. Religion United States is the most religious developed country across the world. It is revealed that religion plays a great role in the life of American people. The history of United States is patent by freedom of religion. Constitution of this country is designed to ensure citizens have the power to establish religious practices. This, therefore, makes United States one of the countries with diverse religion. This is because it is estimated that there are over 100 different religious sects in the America. About 80 percent of them are Christians, while Jews and Muslims hold about 2 percent each. Majority of Americans are, therefore, followers of Christ (Blanchard, 2012). On the contrary, Saudi Arabia has Islamic as its official religion. As Muslims, Saudi Arabian people believe in God and prophets. However, they do not believe Jesus Christ was a son of God but rather a messenger. In addition, they believe Muhammad was also a messenger of God. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is, therefore, referred as an Islamic theocratic dominion. The law in this country only allows Muslims to be the real citizens of this kingdom. However, non Muslims are only allowed to visit and work in the kingdom but cannot acquire citizenship. Moreover, Muslims are the only ones permitted to visit holiest cities in the country. One of the holiest cities is Mecca, which houses Ka ‘aba, a pilgrim shrine that was built by Moses following an order from God (Ghemawat & Reiche, 2011). United States government and politics is a clear example of democracy. This is because they are allowed to choose their representatives in their relevant States during elections. States representatives then select the best candidate to contend for the presidency. United States’ citizen vote for their president through the electoral process called Electoral College system. In this case, every State has electors equal to the number of members in the House of Representatives. Additionally, two senators representing each State are also included in the Electoral College system. During the elections, United States’ citizens cast votes to electors who obligate to offer support presidential candidate desired by members of their State. Whenever a president is elected, he or she is supposed to run the office for a period less than two terms comprising four years each (Blanchard, 2012). President in United States is the head of government and State. In addition, he is the commander in chief of all the armed forces. The structure of government in United States is categorized in three levels, which include Local, State, and Federal governments. Federal government in United States is in charge of the entire nation and has three branches, which include the legislative, executive and legislature. In addition, the government of United States conducts its affairs in accordance to the constitution of the country. This constitution outlines freedom of citizens, function of the three arms of government and democratic rule (Ghemawat & Reiche, 2011). On the contrary, Saudi Arabian government is monarch in nature with the head of state being referred as the king. Whenever the king demises, he is succeeded by his eldest son in the event. However, the king can also choose a heir to succeed him or her in the leadership of the country. The monarchy in Saudi Arabia is, therefore, more of a hereditary. This is because unlike in United States, citizens in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to choose their king through holding elections (Blanchard, 2012). Moreover, citizens in United States have no power to eliminate the king from the throne. The king in Saudi Arabia is very powerful and thus, he is the one to decide whether to step down or not. Saudi Arabia on the other hand, does not have different arms of government. This is because the king holds all the powers by playing the roles of head of state, commander in chief of the armed forces and a prime minister. Although the king does not have absolute power to make laws, he has the mandate to give orders in accordance to Islamic law. Islamic law is used because Saudi Arabia does not have a constitution. Teachings of Prophet Mohammed are thus used to guide governance in Saudi Arabia (Ghemawat & Reiche, 2011). The king also has powers to choose members of his council after every four years who include two deputy ministers, two state ministers, twenty ministers and a group of advisors from non-governmental bodies. Comparison between Saudi Arabia and United States Religion Both United States and Saudi Arabian people believe in God, in their religion. Despite United States being a multi-religion country and Saudi Arabia being dominated by Islamic region, they all worship the same God. In addition, scriptures from the Bible and Quran are also the similar and contain stories of same people such as Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jesus, and Muhammad. In addition, religion from both United States and Saudi Arabia believe on life after death for the believers (Blanchard, 2012). Politics In both United States and Saudi Arabia, there is an opportunity for succession to the presidential and monarchical positions. This is because in the United States, the Vice president can succeed the president in case of resignation, death and impeachment by the Senate. On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia the king can be succeeded by a member of his family or his own choice. In addition, the president of the United States and the king in Saudi Arabia has the power to endow amnesty to illegality, criminals, and select federal juries (Ghemawat & Reiche, 2011). On the other hand, the president of the United States and the king in Saudi Arabia has powers to issue commands and rules. United States’ president offer rules under the consent of the Senate while the king follows Prophet Mohammed’s teachings. Moreover, United States and Saudi Arabia governments have ministries (Ghemawat & Reiche, 2011). This is despite the facts that in Saudi Arabia ministries are referred to as departments or agencies. Ministries from the two counties have the same functions and roles because they deal with international, national and local matters. Social behavior The two countries differ significantly in relation to social behavior. First, in Saudi Arabia, the two sexes are not allowed to mix in the social scene particularly if they are unrelated. Women have different social activities compared to men. Saudi women are primarily homemakers and will spend their time visiting family members particularly of the older generation or visiting each other during the day. Transportation however, might be a problem because women are not allowed to drive. They have to be accompanied by a servant or a male family member. Men on the other hand work during the day, take a nap in the afternoon or socialize with other men from the same background, age and occupation to smoke shisha or for a game of cards. This is unlike in the United States whereby the sexes interact with each other freely and openly from a very early age. During childhood, in high school, college and adulthood, there are no restrictions on how women and men should relate (Long, 2005). The dating scene in both countries also differs. Young people in the United States are free to date whomever they want with some even dating more than one partner at a time. In addition, dating starts at an early age between 13 and 14 when they enter puberty. Dating in Saudi Arabia however, is a serious matter and commonly arranged by the family and close relatives. Dating in Saudi Arabia is more formal and supervised with the ultimate goal being marriage (Long, 2005). Interaction among Saudi Arabians was for a long time limited to families only. However, with the younger generation, they are attempting to lead parallel lives outside the family home. Young people visit malls in groups not just for shopping but also for recreation though interaction remains segregated by gender. This is similar to how most young people spend their time in United States in malls doing shopping, eating or watching a movie (Long, 2005). In addition, as a recreation activity, many Saudis have now embraced eating out and is considered a favorite past time. Whereas restaurants 35 years ago did not exist, many commercial restaurants have come up in recent past especially in the larger cities where they are offering a wide range of Arabian and international dishes. Many of these restaurants have reserved family areas catering to sex segregation. Fast food restaurants have also increased which include food court in malls where they serve fried chicken, hamburgers and sushi. Though they only serve men, sports events have increased with modern and bigger sport stadiums built and top sporting talents from around the world recruited to join Saudi’s teams. Sports, eating out and fast foods comprise American social behavior (Long, 2005). The manner of dressing also differs between United States and Saudi Arabia particularly for women. Religion in Saudi Arabia dictates conservative dressing for men and women. The code of dressing while in Saudi Arabia is always conceal and not reveal. The men will wear a white thobe during the hot weather and wool thobes when the winter sets in. Women on the other hand wear a black cloak called the abayah, a scarf for the head and a veil covering the whole face. Some modern women however, do not conform to wearing the veil and the abayah while in the house. Nonetheless, women dress modestly in the company of men who are not close relatives or when in public. Dressing for most Americans is casual unless in a formal meeting in which suits and formal wear is worn. Generally, how an American individual decides to dress is upon them as there are no requirements (Long, 2005). Economic development Saudi Arabia and United States also differ in terms of economy and development. First, Saudi Arabia is an oil-based economy possessing more than one-fifth of the petroleum reserves proven across the world. Industries existing in Saudi Arabia are primarily based on oil production including crude oil production, basic petrochemicals, petroleum refining, ammonia, industrial gases and plastics. This differs greatly from the American economy, which is based on innovation and advances in technologically. United States is the most technologically powerful economy in the world. In addition, United States has numerous industries including manufacturing, farming, the service industry, the petroleum and natural gas industry, construction industry and businesses (Ramady, 2010). Saudi Arabia’s economy dwarfs in comparison to United States economy. America’s economic growth rate is at 1.5 percent compared to 0.10 percent that of Saudi Arabia’s. In addition, the GDP per capita for the US is at $48, 386 while that of Saudi Arabia is $25, 466 and America’s GDP official exchange rate is $15, 094 billion and for Saudi Arabia is $65.65. Despite the massive government spending, Saudi Arabia’s economy cannot compare to United States. According to Ramady (2010), Saudi’s GDP is added to that of US every 7-8 months during the period when the US economy is growing at the rate of 3 percent. This is attributed to the fact that the US economy is diversified into many industries while that of Saudi Arabia is not. Further, the government controls the economy in Saudi Arabia. This is in contrast to United States where the economy is market oriented, meaning business firms and private individuals make the decisions and the government buys services and goods from the private marketplace (Ramady, 2010). Moreover, a large part of Saudi’s GDP is spent on foreign-owned resources particularly foreign labor. Due to lack of a supportive economic environment coupled with lack of trained technical skills, foreign investors have shied away from investing in Saudi Arabia thus creating employment for the Saudi’s people. This is in contrast to United States, which is the world leader in the number of immigrants. Regardless of high immigration rates, United States records the lowest remittance outflows due to favorable domestic investment opportunities. Conclusion It is clear from the text that there are similarities and differences between United States and Saudi Arabia in relation to their religion, politics, economic development and social behaviors. This could be explained by the fact that there are certain traits that characterize United States and Saudi Arabia societies. It is, therefore, important to note that despite the two countries having different forms of governments and religious setups, they still hold some similarities. References Blanchard, C. M. ( 2012, June 19). Saudi Arabia: Background and U.S. Relations. Retrieved September 20, 2012, from http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33533.pdf Ghemawat, P., & Reiche, S. (2011). National Cultural Differences and Multinational Business. Retrieved September 19, 2012, from www.aacsb.edu/.../national-cultural- differences Long, D. E. (2005). Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia. Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press. Ramady, M. A. (2010). The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements, and Challenges. Boston, MA: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Read More