Politics and Political Field in Saudi Arabia - Report Example

Politics and Political Field in Saudi Arabia Affiliation ABSTACT This paper discusses the history of politics and political fields in Saudi Arabia. It defines the field, the royal family, religious and intellectual groups, and their struggle, expressing the relationship between American and Saudi Arabia. This paper also discusses economic and educational field that are controlled by royal family, and most importantly the concept of field in the political field in Saudi Arabia as discussed by Pierre Bourdieu. Keywords: the field, the royal family, religious and intellectual groups INTRODUCTION The History of Political Field in Saudi Arabia In the middle of the desert king, Abdul-Aziz established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the Third Saudi State) in 1902 when he recaptured Riyadh from Al Rasheed family (Alnahari Shaier, 2014). By that time, the royal family gained the support from Tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. For two reasons: first, the royal familys religious believe which is the most important pillar underpinning the nation. Second, the Bedouins and trips underwent the severe conflict seeking the peace in that land. Although, they extended the roots of Saudi Arabia to the pre-Third Saudi State when the first Saudi state began an alliance between Imam Mohammed Bin Saud and Imam Mohammed Bin Abdul Wahhab in 1744 ( Al khudaer, 2013). The political field in Saudi Arabia reached its peak when king Fiasl became the minister of Foreign Affairs in 1930 ( Al khudaer, 2013). His role was evident especially when he paid attention to obtain the international relations with many countries such as Egypt whose leader by that time AL Farooq and Jordan. King Faisal gained more than seventy international conventions in 1973 which in turn shows the strengths of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia whose leader is King Abdul-Aziz and his minister of foreign affairs prince Fiasl. Saudi Arabian king leading the kingdom at this time was able to meet a large number of prominent Arab, Islamic and foreign prominent when they visited him or when they came for the pilgrimage and pitched in the hospitality, most notably U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Egypt in 1945, Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister Britain, Foreign Minister Anthony Eden, in Fayoum, Egypt, in 1945, King Farouk I, king of Egypt, Mahmoud Fahmi Nuqrashi Pasha, head of his ministry, in Yanbu in 1945 and Cairo again in 1946, and King Faisal I of Iraq in the presentation of the Arabian Gulf in February 1930 ( Al khudaer, 2013). During these events, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia started obtaining its recognition within the international and local level. Which in turn lead the royal family to be the dominating group in Saudi Arabia region. International Relations between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia started when America began the negotiation of the Saudi government, led by King Abdul Aziz to establish the diplomatic relations with all countries having a political and economic weight. The pursuit of the relations establishment in that early period happened when there was no oil as an element in the data relationships. According to Samari (A series of articles history of international relations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the era of King Abdul Aziz). When the United States assessed the international relations of the Saudi state, they found it related to several countries, both diplomatic or trade agreements such as an agreement of King Abdul Aziz, a senior German in 1929. As a result, sent the U.S. State Department Assistant Commercial, Alexandria Mr. Ralph Chisberov to Jeddah in the summer of 1930 in order to evaluate the situation there and write about his impressions, to shift the U.S economically so as to strengthen its relations with the other region. In 1931, the U.S government, led by the president (Hoover), started negotiating with Saudi Arabias government to establish diplomatic relations so as to strength their partnership (Al khudaer, 2013). As a result, they signed the spirit of cooperation. The History of Economic Field in Saudi Arabia The strengths of the economic field started when American company began exploring for oil in the eastern part of the Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom. According to Al khudaer (2013), in 1925 the standard California of Oil company initiated the oil discovery in Dammam. However, it was not until 1928 when the company succeeded in oil discovery. As a result, Saudi Arabia began to export oil around the world, they built their own oil export terminal in Ras Tanowrah in 1939.King Abdul-Aziz patronized the opening of the port that in turn led to the American government paying attention to the huge discovery. The standard California (SOCAL) signed a new agreement with Saudi Arabia’s minister of finance, and Abdullah ibn Sulyman to begun exploring oil (Al-Rasheed, 2010).Thus, King Abdulaziz gained more power in the authority. Saudi Aramco According to Kauppi (2003), the Saudi government obtained 25% of the (SOCAL) in 1973 during the OPEC meeting, when the OPEC country resurrect unequal relations in the country, it had 60% of the oil company in 1947. The Saudi Arabia’s government gained control of the oil company in 1980 which strengthens its power and political field worldwide. The power of the Economic field which is controlled by King Abdulaziz supports his position of imposing authority. According to Aljuhany (2005) "ARAMCO, an active force in the politics of the Middle East is the basis of the ruling system of the country, has stood by the system since its inception, and was a major force adopted by Abdul Aziz to achieve its objectives in the Arabian Peninsula’’ OPEC There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia is one of the five member countries in OPEC, given its strength and independence on the economic and political level. According to Ibn Abdualziz (2005), in September 1960, three Arab Gulf nations (Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia) Iran and Venezuela formed OPEC in order to obtain higher prices for crude oil. Saudi Arabia as one of these countries tried to obtain its recognition and economic independence led by the royal family which helped their regime stable until now. According to Murphy (2014), the economic field can structure the field of power and its agency. Saudi Arabias economic strength has structured the field of politics. Even though, the religious field is important for the Saudi nation. OPEC as an international institution has given the royal family in Saudi Arabia the power in the local and international level. KEY CONCEPTS Field The word field means the activity in a certain sphere. According to Jenkins (2005), field is a structured system of social position occupied either by individuals or institutions. Sometimes the field can be effective even if there are no many fields in a certain arena because of the activity that has position in a certain field. While within fields each field has to have relative autosomes even if a certain regime is controlled by the field (Kauppi, 2003). Also, the field structures the value of elements within other fields through the network of relationship that in turn controls the position in each field. Royal Family The royal family in Saudi Arabia leads and controls the power within the field and their agency within the countrys fields. According to a report by Oxford University (2010), the royal family controls the kingdom since mid-1700s when Mohammad bin Saud joined forces with Alshaikh Mohmmad bin Abd Al Wahhab (a religious reform; however, they faced the Ottomans threat. They settled in Najd located in the Middle of Saudi Arabia. According to Alharbi Al Askaer (2010), familys ratios traced to Abi Hanifah bin Walel a big tribe lived in Najid before the first Saudi state. Religious group Religious group in Saudi Arabia is the most common group in the country. Its roots can be traced to the first Saudi State when brotherhood began their activities during King Abdul-Azizs tenure. In this study, the most important group is a religious group who control some institutions in the country such as the religious police whose goals is to promote the virtue and Islamic religion. Also, they control academic field in Saudi Arabia. However, they lost the control over the educational field which nowadays is controlled by the intellectual group. The intellectual group Most of the active intellectual group are in the educational field especially in the academic arena. They exist in the university, and looks for more freedom in Saudi community than the religious group which is evident through their books and writings as they require freedom in the society. As a result, struggle with the religious group. According to Alshamsi (2010), this struggle began at the end of 1980s especially when the Sahwah movement started. After the Gulf War they were named the Saudi liberal, this group includes the women who were trying to obtain their rights to drive and enter the political field at the begging of 1990s (Alshamsi, 2010). Both are controlled by the royal family Even though, there is competition within the fields, and between the two groups, the royal family controls the groups and the fields by their power. According to AlQafari (2003), the liberals are loyal to the royal family thus, shows the amount of control the Saudi Arabia government have upon this group. According to Alshamsi (2010), the political power is in hand of the royal family THEOROTICAL PERSPECTIVE In the study, Bourdieus theory of the political field will be used to describe the political field in Saudi Arabia. According to Kauppi (2003), Bourdieu sees the political field as another social field that have the interactions and activities within its self. In this field, the political capital and their agents must be active all the time to ensure success in their position (Kauppi, 2003). Its success has to be subjected to an organization. The agents within the field not only do their activity but also compete for the political capital (Kauppi, 2003). According to Kauppi (2003), the dominant group has autonomous and can legitimate the political capital. As a result, they become dominant in the field. Thus, has less autonomy than other or weak political capital. Therefore, the autonomy leads to gaining a position in the political field followed by political strategies that support the dominating group and enables them to control another group. Also, the dominating groups roles manipulate the political field to achieve its benefits. The positions are based on the interaction between the different rules in the field. This theory is crucial in this study of the political field in Saudi Arabia because it offers to differentiate between two groups in the political field and their struggle to reach a good position in the field. Although, this theory is mostly used to analyze political field in Western society, it can also be applied to the field of politics in Saudi Arabia. According to Qaseme (2011), the field has a historical process and passes into constant struggle and change to achieve the autonomy. The case in Saudi Arabia and its political field underwent many changes and conflict since the mid-1970s, either external or internal conflict. The external conflict is a conflict between political field and another field in a certain society, which according to Bourdieu happens where there are minimum collective interests among agents while the internal struggle is structured within the political field in itself (Qaseme, 2011). Bourdieu mentions that the fields structure is independent of the agents or individuals consciousness. The political field in Saudi Arabia nowadays faces the struggle between two dominated groups which are under the authority of Al Saud family. According to Alshamsi (2010), the struggle between Islamic and intellectual group exists in the social arena such as the media. Their struggle always represents the needs either by Islamic or intellectual group. Even though, some members inside this two groups are not satisfied with the political field which controls another field in the society. As illustrated in the diagram above represents political field that is under the authority of the royal family in Saudi Arabia. Because of their power they become the dominating group in that field. Apart from just dominating the group, the royal family can hold the struggle between the dominated group that is, the Islamic and intellectual groups. Most of their struggle is represented in the media, religious and educational fields (Alshamsi, 2010). Also, Al Saud family controls the entire fields in the country involving the most important field (economic field) giving them the power to take the authority upon the other fields. According to Jenkins (2005), the field of economy can give the power to a certain group in society. The Political Field in Saudi Arabia: According Al-Samari (2005), assert that the political agents manipulate the means in their field. In Saudi Arabia, the agents of the political field are able to hold the struggle between intellectual and religious group by controlling the resources in the other field. For instance, the royal family controls the resources in education field that enable individuals to associate in political activity; thus, the individuals get respect due to the Al Sauds activity that control the field, and the same case with religious groups. Through these activities, the groups become convinced in their fields then try to control another resource far away from the political field. The forms of struggle: The struggle between religious and intellectual groups Each group holds a certain field to practice their activity. In our case, the Islamic or religious group in Saudi Arabia is centered in some institution such as the ministry of Islamic including the religious police representing its activities and some Islamic universities Such as the university of Al imam Muhammad bin Saud in Riyadh. The scholars in these institutions always seek to gain their goals revolving around the Islamic consideration and sometimes are against the Intellectual groups activity. While the intellectual group sought to obtain their freedom in the society, they see the Islamic group as a group that prevents them from achieving their rights in the country. The intellectual group involves some of the professors in the universities and some of the Journalists. According to Al Qurashi (2014), the conflict is primarily between two current groups; religious and liberal, and involves every system such as the social media and journals. Media as one of the systems, has relative autonomy in Saudi Arabia where the struggle is represented. For example, most of the intellectual group members show their demands through the social media such as Facebook and twitter, and their demands must be constituted with Saudi policy. Also, their activity sought to obtain freedom and gain the public recognition (Alqurashi, 2014). Most of the issues arising are the educational system, and the intellectual demand which seek to change some of the courses and add something new which must not rely on religious background while the religious group in the institutions is committed to those teachings or self-styled priorities. Although, the Islamic group dominated the educational field with relative autonomy the intellectual group started obtains some roles. As described above all the fields are controlled by the political field which in turn prevent the group from making decision unless the government agrees to apply such matters. Because of the power and authority the royal family has the power to control the struggle between these groups. Economic and Educational fields The economic field in Saudi Arabia is fully linked to the political field which is controlled by the royal family because the economic field is largely dependent on the oil wealth and industry controlled by the kingdom. Apart from just the income, the religious field might determine some aspects of the economic field especially with references to Islamic ideals on the question of interest payments for cash advanced and the loans as well as the concept of welfare state (Noori, 2010). This is consistent with Sharia law that the government seeks to ensure in the economic institutions. Educational field in Saudi Arabia is critical for the field of power. The royal family controls the educational field to ensure that people are under their system that in turn supports them. That is essentially evident when they appointed one of the royal family members as the minister of education. The struggle within the royal family The struggle within the royal family currently takes place due to the death of the youngest princess, Abdul-Aziz sons such as Prince Sultan, Naïf and Satam. According to Tamim, the royal family in Saudi Arabia involves 3000-7000 adult princes. As a result, each one of them has a different style and trend causing the conflict among them to the authority. According to Stenslie(2012), the struggle amongst them is due to the inequities in power, this conflict is taking place since the death of the founder of Saudi Arabia. The inequality is not just due to the power that everyone inside the family sought to obtain but due to the huge income of the oil. Because of the conflict within the royal family, King Abdullah established a new system called The Allegiance Council to select the King and the crown prince to secure the transformation of power to the new king to avoid potential conflict in power Stenslie (2012). In 2006, King Abdullah established the system, the committee consists of king Abdul-Azizs sons and one of the sons or grandsons of each deceased or disabled, and two members appointed by the king (one of his sons, and the sons of a Crowned prince( Alnahari,2014). Also, the king appointed prince Mishal bin Abdul-Aziz as the president of The Allegiance Council. American Policy and the Royal Family American policy supports the Royal family to stay in power. For example, the State Department in the United States notified congress of its intention to make one of the biggest arms sales in the history of America in 2010. The weapons were being sold to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at a total cost of more than $60.5 billion (Murphy, 2014).The Saudi Forces are also trained by the American government which enables the government to stay in power. CONCLUSION All the fields within the Saudi Arabian nation have relative autonomy but are controlled by the political field and the royal family. The highest field in the country is the Political field represented by the Royal family. The religious and intellectual groups have a similar grounding as fields due to the role they play in advising the royal family and the king on social, political, religious and economic matters. The Royal family, which has the political power, has played a significant role in bridging the differences and conflict in the Religious and Educational fields. The royal family has managed to achieve this through the declaration of the superiority of Sharia law over everything else as well as ensuring that both fields play a significant role in advising the King and the government when it comes to crucial public policy. They royal family is also able to remunerate and elevate themselves above everyone else in terms of wealth and position in a structured society. They are also able to purchase weapons and hire security forces to protect their dominance and dish out money to any faction in terms of welfare. They can control the police and security apparatus as well as the amount of business one gets form the government. Thus, makes people want to come closer to them rather than distance themselves from the royal family as it has perks attached to it. The second most dominant groups are the religious and intellectual groups who compete in the field to gain recognition and also to influence the direction of national discourse and policy directions. References Alnahari Shaier,2014, The development of a system of Allegiance Commission http://www.makkahnewspaper.com/makkahNews/2014-02-17-09-03-10/34430/34430#.U4cKanKSwoo Al khudaer, M 2013 Political thought of the founder stems from his commitment to support the brotherly relations with neighboring countries and take care of the interest of Muslims http://www.al-jazirah.com/2012/20120924/ym64.htm AlQurashi. S. 2014. The conflict between the Islamic and liberal to Gain the Earth and poplution http://www.makkahnewspaper.com/makkahNews/culture/6775/6775#.U4cMIHKSwo After Bourdieu: Influence, Critique, Elaboration 2006 edited by David Swartz, Vera L. Zolberg. springer scince. 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