The future of the Saudi Political System in Light of Internal Variables

Abstract

Saudi Arabia enjoys a privileged position in the Middle East by virtue of its strategic position, and because of its political, economic and religious factors, as the Saudi political system was established in 1744 in accordance with a political-religious agreement between the Al Saud and the religious institution represented by the Wahhabi da'wa (Salafism), and continued to receive its legitimacy and support from it, tribalism also took an important aspect in maturity, and the expansion of the influence of this country until the oil wealth contributed to its development, and strengthened its relations with the outside world, which in turn casts an important aspect of maturity, and the expansion of the influence of this country until the oil wealth contributed to its development, and strengthened its relations with the outside world, which in turn casts an important aspect of maturity. In the importance of future studies that address topics related to Saudi domestic and external affairs, notably the issue of reform. The reform trends in Saudi Arabia coincided with its opening to the world specifically western countries in the early 1990s, and increased elitist and popular calls for reform, as well as a number of structural causes that reinforced the alliance between the political and religious institution that clearly controlled the social, political and civil life of the Kingdom. This study is concerned with the reform process in the Saudi political system by showing the future scenes of that process, and then relying on internal variables, and the study tries in the framework of its problem to answer a key question: where is the Saudi political system going in light of internal variables. The hypothesis of the study in the context of future studies is based on an optimistic scene that supports the success of the reform process in Saudi Arabia, and another pessimistic scene that believes that the political system in the Kingdom will remain the same, if not turn into a worse state than it is now.