Political System and Identity in Saudi Arabia and Iran - Case Study Example

COMPARATIVE POLITICS (SAUDI ARABIA & IRAN) Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date Introduction The Middle East has faced a lot of rivalries among its states but the most significant is the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia which has brought about regional repercussions. This rivalry stemmed from religious sectarianism and has been made worse by international political and diplomatic alliances especially with the western world. Saudi Arabia has for a long time been perceived by Iran as a stooge of western policies and interests especially that of the United States in the entire Middle East. It is not only Saudi Arabia that is in rivalry with Iran; other Gulf States like Egypt, Israel, Bahrain, Unites Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait have their fears about Iran due to several reasons (Ottaway, 2009). The size of the country as well as “well-established, resilient political system”, the power of Iran to control the Persian Gulf/Arabian Gulf, the differences in religious ideologies and the fact that Iran is building a nuclear power plant are strong reasons that put other Gulf States at tension with Iran (Ottaway, 2009). However, there have been several diplomatic efforts to settle the differences between these two Islamic heavy weights whereby the Saudi king and the Iranian president have held several talks in the recent past. Political System and Identity Though both Saudi Arabia and Iran are theocracies (the political systems are religion based), there are significant political, ideological and philosophical differences that exist between them. These two states are theocracies in that the political system is closely intertwined with religion which in this case is Islam. In fact, the constitution of Saudi Arabia is very much based on Sharia law which is found in the Holy Q’uran; same case applies to Iran with little alterations due to influence from its secular past. In addition, the head of state in both countries is also the supreme spiritual/religious leader. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy where the head of state is the king who rules with the assistance of a council of ministers that he appoints. In this system, women have no/little say in the country’s political affairs. The council of ministers, together with the king, has both executive and legislative powers. On the expiry of the monarch (death or incapacitation of the king), the members of the royal family choose among themselves the successor to the throne. Usually, according to a political outlook for Saudi Arabia by Chatham House in May 2011, the heir apparent is the incumbent king’s younger brother but this is bound to change such that the king’s eldest son is going to be the successor. In other words, there is no democracy in Saudi Arabia (Chatham House, 2011) On the other hand, Iran is an Islamic republic whose president is elected into office by the citizens. Women also have the right to vote in any election. However, there have been widespread views that Iran hides under the umbrella of democracy while in the real sense it does not practice democracy. As Ottaway (2009) puts it, “Iran is an Islamic republic in which elected institutions coexist uneasily with theocracy.” Iran’s nuclear program as well as United States politics has also contributed to the political identity of both Iran and Saudi Arabia. The interference from the United States which has tried to build an anti-Iran alliance among the other Gulf States has increased the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. According to Hagood (n.d), “Iran’s nuclear program, consolidation of sectarian politics especially the Shia parties dominating the Iraqi political arena and United States politics are affecting Iran-Saudi relations.” The Iran’s nuclear program poses a threat to the security of Saudi Arabia as well as pressurizes it to build its own nuclear program not for security purpose but for the purpose of remaining relevant in influencing the affairs of the Gulf region (Ottaway, 2009) Furthermore, Iran holds the Shia political ideology and acts as the reference point to many Shia movements worldwide (Hagood, n.d). In order to spread its Shia ideology, Iran has been supporting Shia groups in Iraq as well as to Hezbollah in Lebanon and even to some Sunni groups such as the Hamas in Palestine (Hagood, n.d; Ottaway, 2009; Wehrey, Karasik, Nader, Ghez, Hansell & Guffey, 2009). While Saudi Arabia is not known to be a state sponsor of extremist groups (like Iran is), it is ironical that the world’s hardened terrorists such as the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, originate from Saudi Arabia. However, due to the on-going revolutions in the Arab world (such as those in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Tunisia), the Saudi king, Abdullah al-Saud, felt the pressure and announced that women will be voting in the next municipal elections. This, to some extend, reflects some form of democratization in the kingdom which will in turn change the political identity of Saudi Arabia (Chatham House, 2011). In general, the Saudi government adopted a dual policy that offers limited advancements in democracy. Religion The kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are predominantly Islamic states. However, both states practice different forms of Islam with Saudi Arabia being predominantly Sunni and Iran being Shi’ite. Historically, the differences between the Sunni and the Shia sects of Islam have contributed to the on-going religious and political conflicts especially in the Middle East. These differences can be traced back to the seventh century when there were disagreements over the succession of Prophet Muhammad and over the form of leadership in the Muslim community (Blanchard, 2009). The debate, according to Blanchard (2009), was on whether the successor should be a direct relative of the Prophet or a qualified and deeply religious “individual who would follow the customs of the Prophet.” These differences in opinion gave birth to two sects within the Islamic religion whereby those in favor of succession by a relative of the Prophet became known as the Shia whereas those in favor of a deeply religious and strict follower of the Prophet’s customs came to be known as the Sunnis (Blanchard, 2009). In the end, the Muslim community was and is still dominated by the Sunni sect whose perceived leader is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia while the Islamic Republic of Iran perpetuates herself as the leader of the Shi’ites in the world. The above perceptions have heightened the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran with each of them trying to spread the ideologies of their respective sects. Despite the existence of differences, the Sunnis and Shiites share common beliefs, doctrines and traditions (Blanchard, 2009). . First of all, they use the Q’uran as their source of religious guidelines. Secondly, they both believe that Prophet Muhammad was Allah’s messenger. They also believe that they must follow the revelations given to the Prophet by Allah as well as follow the Prophet’s and his companions’ sayings. Additionally, they must observe the five pillars of Islam which are shahada (recital of the creed), salat (to pray five times a day), zakat (giving alms to the poor), saum (fasting from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan) and hajj (making a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca at least once in a believer’s lifetime if one is both physically and financially able). Finally, both Sunni and Shia faithful believe that piety, striving for goodness and social justice are fundamentals of the Islamic faith. One clear difference between the Sunni and the Shia sects can be found in the interpretation of Islamic law. While the Shi’ites allow human reasoning in the interpretation of the Q’uran law, the Sunnis, on the other hand, follow it as it is written (Blanchard, 2009). From the above discussion on the similarities and differences between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, it is evident that the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia is deeply rooted in theological ideologies. These two sectarian heavy weights have been making tremendous efforts to spread their ideologies their neighbors and beyond. In the recent past, Iran has been linked with supporting the uprisings in Bahrain which resulted in Saudi Arabia sending troops to the Sunni government f Bahrain to quell a perceived uprising orchestrated by Shia parties. It is also evident that Saudi Arabia and Iran have been supporting their respective sectarian groups in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Kuwait (Ottaway, 2009). Economy Saudi Arabia and Iran are the Gulf region’s biggest economies due to their rich oil reserves. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which was formed in 1981 and includes all the six gulf countries (Ottaway, 2009; Hagood, n.d). Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Gulf region with oil exports as her chief foreign currency earner. In fact, according to an exhibition organized by the Riyadh Exhibitions Company in 2009, Saudi Arabia is the region’s largest economy with a GDP that is “over 20 percent larger than the total combined GDP of the other GCC countries.” At the time, it was estimated that she would outperform other countries in the region despite the global economic recession. This impressive economic performance can be attributed to the Kingdom’s formulation of investor friendly environment. Moreover, Saudi Arabia is striving to create jobs as well as diversify its oil-based economy and this has seen the government initiate the building of six major economic cities and industrial zones namely King Abdullah Economic City, Jazan Economic City, Prince AbdulAziz bin Mousaed Economic City, Knowledge Economic City, King Abdullah Financial District and King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (Riyadh Exhibition Company, 2009; EDC Canada, 2011). Additionally, the government aims at developing human resources and promoting foreign investment through investment in infrastructure and provision of incentives to attract foreign investors (EDC Canada, 2011). On the other hand, Iran’s economic development has been largely hampered by the sanctions imposed by the United States and her allies as well as the United Nations (Ilias, 2008). Iran’s economy is predominantly oil-based and it is said to be have the third largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia and Canada (Crane, Lal & Martini, 2008). Despite being in possession of these large oil and natural gas reserves, Iran’s energy output has been falling over the years because of the lack of capital and technology by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) (Crane, Lal & Martini, 2008). Additionally, Iran has been able to attract investors especially the Chinese and Japanese exploration companies in uncovering virgin oil fields, an act that has increased the general oil production of the country (Crane, Lal & Martini, 2008). To further develop its economy, Iran has diversified from an oil-based economy to include natural gas production whereby the country has increased its natural gas exports (Crane, Lal & Martini, 2008). It is evident that Iran’s economy has been faced by gross mismanagement which has brought about inflation and high levels of unemployment (Ilias, 2008), as well as slow rates of economic growth. Comparatively, these two Gulf region economies are oil-based and are trying to diversity into other fields such as construction of commercial centers. However, the Saudi Arabian economy appears to outperform that of Iran especially due to its domestic and foreign policies on investment and its alliance with the western world. In addition, Saudi Arabia is focusing on human resource development as well as the development of infrastructure that will encourage both domestic and foreign investors. Interests Iran has shown interest in encouraging trade with Asian countries as well as with western countries such as Italy and Germany. Asian countries such as Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Azerbaijan, China and Japan have been collaborating with Iran especially in trade (Ilias, 2008). To boost trade and travel, Iran has collaborated with Turkey and Azerbaijan so as to build a joint railway across the three countries (Ilias, 2008). In the western world, Germany has been Iran’s biggest trade partner. Politically, Iran has been shown interest in spreading its shi’ite ideologies in neighboring countries such as Iraq and Bahrain. In an effort to spread its influence, Iran has developed close ties with Syria (Ottaway, 2009) and has given strong support to the Sunni Hamas in Palestine as well as to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Iraq, Iran has been known to be actively involved in the war by supporting the Shia parties. All these actions by Iran reflect its efforts to maintain its presence in the Middle East and remain a powerful state that is untouchable. Conversely, Saudi Arabia has been actively involved with the western countries especially the United States both economically and politically. Economically, Saudi Arabia has shown a lot of interest in attracting foreign investment through building of local infrastructure as well as implementing policies that are attractive to foreign investors (EDC Canada, 2011). For instance, the initiative to build six major economic cities is aimed at diversifying the oil-based economy of the country and attracting foreign investors to establish other commercial industries in the countries. In the political arena, Saudi Arabia has been in the past actively involved with the United States hence earning itself the cliché ‘U.S puppet’ by their rivals Iran. The main reason why Saudi Arabia has been collaborating with the United States is to counter the power and influence of its historical rival, Iran. So as to contain the Shia groups in the country, Saudi Arabia controls the building of Shia mosques in the kingdom and ensures that they do not enjoy the same rights as the Sunnis (Ottaway, 2009). However, Saudi Arabia has not been challenging Iran directly and openly for the fear of the powerful nature of Iran. According to Ottaway (2009), Saudi Arabia has been very cautious when dealing with Iran and its diplomacy exchanges have been very modest and its collaboration with the United States has been very secretive. There have been unconfirmed rumors that Saudi Arabia is in the process of building its own nuclear power plant for credibility purposes and that it has also financially aided Pakistan in establishing its nuclear program so as to gain Pakistan’s protection if need be (Ottaway, 2009). Conclusion Historically, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been the biggest in the Middle East as well as the most powerful countries among the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The rivalry is mainly based on differences in theological and political ideologies between the Shia and Sunni Islamic faithful. Saudi Arabia is predominantly a Sunni state whereas Iran is a Shia dominated state. Both these countries have been actively involved in activities aimed at spreading their influence in the Middle East as well as in other Islamic countries worldwide. These two heavy weights are theocracies in that their political systems are religion based. Economically, both Saudi Arabia and Iran are oil-based economies with Saudi Arabia being the biggest economy in the region. The economic prowess of Saudi Arabia can be attributed to its good relations with the western world and its good investing environment that encourages both domestic and foreign investment. On the contrary, Iran’s economic potential is underutilized especially due to domestic economic mismanagement and trade sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations. Finally, it is evident that both Saudi Arabia and Iran are very powerful countries in the Middle East. References Blanchard, C.M. (2009). Islam: Sunnis and Shiites. Retrieved from http://middleeast.about.com/od/religionsectarianism/a/me070907sunnis.htm Chatham House (2011). The Political outlook for Saudi Arabia. Middle East and North Africa programme: workshop report. Retrieved from www.chathamhouse.org on 17th November 2011. Crane, K., Lal, R. & Martini, J. (2008). Iran’s Political, Demographic, and Economic Vulnerabilities. Retrieved from www.rand.org on 17th November 2011. EDC Canada (2011). Saudi Arabia: Economics. Hagood, A. (n.d). Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Tale of Two Media. Retrieved from http://www.arabmediasociety.com/articles/downloads/20100330143631_Hagood_-_for_pdf.pdf Ilias, S. (2008). CRS report for Congress: Iran’s Economy. Retrieved from www.crs.gov on 17th November 2011. Ottaway, M. (2009). Iran, the United States, and the Gulf: the Elusive Regional Policy. Retrieved from http://carnegieendowment.org/files/iran_us_gulf1.pdf Riyadh Exhibitions Company (2009). Saudi Build / Stone 2009: A Gateway to Investment at One of the Region’s Leading Construction Exhibitions. Wehrey, F., Karasik, T.W., Nader A., Ghez, J., Hansell, L. & Guffey, R.A. (2009). Saudi-Iranian Relations since the fall of Saddam: Rivalry, Cooperation, and Implications for U.S. Policy. Retrieved from www.rand.org on 17th November 2011. Read More