FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 03/28/06
CONTACT: Jennifer Linker, +1 202/939-2372, jlinker@CarnegieEndowment.org

Secretary Rice’s recent visit to the Gulf countries and the persistent reluctance of rulers in this region to share power have reignited the questions over the outcomes of Arab political authoritarianism.

Senior Associate Amr Hamzawy, who follows political developments in the Gulf, has written a dynamic new paper, The Saudi Labyrinth: Evaluating the Current Political Opening. Part of Carnegie’s Middle East Series on Arab political reform, Hamzawy’s thorough analysis offers time-sensitive research on the potential for future significant political reform in Saudi Arabia and what role the United States should play. The Saudi Labyrinth takes you through the maze of important Saudi political actors, including liberal reformists and moderate Islamists, and documents reform measures between 2002 and 2005. Click here to download the paper or go to www.CarnegieEndowment.org/pubs.   

Hamzawy instructs the United States to support the demands of political dissenting groups in their calls for broadening the role of institutions such as the consultative Shura council or legalizing more NGOs. In addition, the United States should continue to build ties with civil society actors, while lying low over the highly sensitive and contentious issues of educational reform and gender equality.

Hamzawy untangles the reforms introduced between 2002 and 2005, which created opportunities for popular participation in Saudi politics and civil society, increased the margin of freedom in the public space, and diversified the political spectrum.  He argues that they represent a significant political opening; albeit one that has not altered the authoritarian nature of the Saudi political system.

Amr Hamzawy is a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment. He is a noted Egyptian political scientist whose research focuses on the changing dynamics of political participation in the Arab world, especially in Egypt and the Gulf countries, and the political role of Islamist movements. He is the author of Contemporary Arab Political Thought: Continuity and Change (in German, 2005). 

Direct link to paper: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/CP68.hamzawy.FINAL.pdf

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