Saudi Arabia's Political Dilemma

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  "authors": [
    "Christopher Boucek"
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    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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In The Media

Saudi Arabia's Political Dilemma

Saudi Arabia’s biggest internal challenge continues to be reconciling its conservative, religious identity with the politics of the modern world; while it grapples with fundamental political questions regarding religion and state, it must also deal with regional challenges that threaten its security.

By Christopher Boucek

Published on Dec 3, 2009

Source: Al Jazeera's Riz Khan Show

The continued discourse in Saudi Arabia concerning the role of Islam in society and politics has far-reaching implications. According to Christopher Boucek, because of the “power of Saudi Arabia in the global Muslim community and its powerful economic and political role in the Gulf, how Saudi goes much of the global Muslim community goes.” As Saudi Arabia continues to face these challenging political questions, it must also face instability caused by the on-going crises emanating from Yemen. Although, the “the Houthi rebellion itself is no threat to Saudi Arabia, the overall instability in Yemen is of great concern to it,” Boucek explains.

About the Author

Christopher Boucek

Former Associate, Middle East Program

Boucek was an associate in the Carnegie Middle East Program where his research focused on security challenges in the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa.

Recent Work

Q&A
Yemen After Saleh’s Return and Awlaki’s Exit
- Christopher Boucek
Q&A
Rivals—Iran vs. Saudi Arabia
- Christopher Boucek, Karim Sadjadpour

Political Reform Security Saudi Arabia Yemen

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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