Robert Lacey
Hutchinson 2009
Saudi Arabia is a historical anomaly. At least this is what Robert Lacey argues in his latest book. It is a country filled with paradoxes that contradict the general social trends the rest of the world has followed. “Its survival defies the laws of logic and history. Look at its princely rulers, dressed in funny clothes, trusting in God rather than in man, and running their oil-rich country on principles most of the world has abandoned with relief”. And with this introduction, Lacey sets the tone for what proves to be an entertaining yet highly informative read on the country that is, for the most part, an enigma to the rest of the world.
Inside the Kingdom is a continuation of the work the author began in his first book on Saudi Arabia, The Kingdom. This volume, however, manages to break past records in terms of the insight he provides on the internal paradoxes of the country, and more interestingly, how its conservative religious culture has influenced its relationship to the rest of the world. Lacey is daring in his coverage of issues ranging from the presence of terrorists in Saudi Arabia, its special relationship with the US, the role of women, and how the royal family has adapted to changing times.
Beginning with one characteristic that perhaps intrigues most foreigners, Robert Lacey, reviews the historical conditions that have allowed Saudi Arabian society to cling to the conservative values that define the country today. In this light, Lacey incorporates events like the siege of Mecca by Juhayman and the 9/11 attacks in a sociological explanation of how the evolution of the Bedouin tribes came to define their modern societies in comparatively conservative ways.
Referring more specifically to the siege of Mecca, Lacey explains how this event perhaps had more influence on the development of modern social mores than most other events in Saudi Arabia. His ability to convey this message however, lies in more than the historical facts he provides, and even the first hand accounts that he incorporates into his story. As an accomplished writer, Lacey’s investigations are greatly complemented by his ability to emote to the reader the great sense of urgency that Saudis, both its rulers and its citizens, felt on that fateful day. For example noting how the pious King Khaled had exclaimed with horror “I wish they had done that to my palace, not the mosque”.
Interestingly, Lacey explains that the trauma that this event caused for Saudi society, undid any shifts towards reform that might have been occurring at the time. Instead, it led to further closing of Saudi culture. Yet the legacy of this conservatism was questioned as a paradox. The various chapters that Lacey dedicates to the ideological development of Osama Bin Laden, along with the trajectory towards extremism that other Saudis experienced in the late 90s, is a social critique of the role the religious establishment has had on impressionable youth.
Far from being disrespectful of tradition, Lacey manages to use examples of former members of terrorist groups to explain that Saudi Arabia has a problem, not with religion, but with an excess in conservatism inextricably linked to religion, which unfortunately has brought along with it intolerance. It is this intolerance, he argues, that partly explained why the majority of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis and not mainly Yemenites.
Interestingly, in his analysis of the problem of the growth of terrorist groups in the Middle East more broadly, Lacey is able to identify a variety of risk factors that motivate individuals to partake in these acts. He explains that
There was a hierarchy among jihadis. The Yemenis were at the bottom... they were so poor, they were sort of stuck. They were probably better off in Afghanistan than they were at home, and they couldn’t travel anywhere in any case… The Egyptians couldn’t travel much either, and they certainly could not go home. They were wanted men, without much money. The Saudis were at the top of the heap because we had money. A Saudi wasn’t desperate for $150… He could go home at any time. So if he was here, he’d come too die. He could do the big job.
In other words, Lacey exposes that part of the problem behind terrorism is economic. Left with no options at home, and believing in a cause encouraged a great number of individuals to become martyrs. But surely this is not the only cause of terrorism. How then does he explain the fact that various Saudis, who had more economic opportunities than their counterparts joined these jihadi movements?
It is here that his analysis of Osama Bin Laden is especially strong – an evaluation of how a privileged country in the Middle East, with comparatively strong ties to the West, could produce the leader of Al-Qaeda. Bin Laden, the son of a particularly well-off Saudi family, is portrayed as a man whose piety took an unfortunate form, as he was largely influenced by a Syrian member of the Muslim Brotherhood while he was still at school. Soon thereafter, the invasion of Afghanistan ignited in Osama a desire to support his Muslim brothers. “Osama lobbied wealthy friends and relatives to raise what one associate described as a huge sum of money to support the mujahideen”. The catalyst for it all was religion – it was difficult for many at the time to accept the death of innocent Muslims.
The problem arose, however, when jihadis like Bin Laden saw the exit of Soviet forces from Afghanistan and did not put their weapons down, argued one interviewee. According to him, these men were lost in their interpretation of what was right, and as a result turned jihad into a global movement – a sort of defence of pan-Muslim nationalism.
Lacey’s portrayal of Bin Laden’s ideology, and his general interpretation of the power of extremist views in Saudi Arabia, echoed the development he describes in Juhayman’s own thinking. The implication throughout the book is clear, and one he notes that has been recognized by Saudi officials themselves: Mainly that while there are advantages to the conservative nature of Saudi society, the one grave disadvantage is the degree of extremism that it fosters. However, Inside the Kingdom is able to move beyond the sources of Islamist movements, and also takes a look into how Saudi Arabia has been addressing this issue.
A largely under-explored subject, Lacey dedicates a great amount of research to the rehabilitation of former terrorists. In doing so the author explores the measures the Saudi government has employed in this regard.
In fighting its war, the Ministry of the Interior has resorted to a novel tactic –
marriage. No Saudi official will admit on the record that the kingdom’s terrorist problem might boil down to sexual frustration… One cornerstone of the extremist rehab programme is to get the beneficiaries as they are called, settled town with a wife as soon as possible.
In addition to encouraging marriage, the government, Lacey reports, supports them in finding employment. Recounting the story of one former Guantanamo detainee, Khaled Al-Hubayshi, who after being released was given 60,000 riyals, the going rate for a dowry. Now settled, and with a job the former detainee says “The government has been good to me. So why should I not be good to the government.”
The philosophy behind the rehabilitation of former terrorists according to the Ministry for the Interior is to build a national consensus that extremism is wrong, and a way of doing so is through familial support. “In the last few months we have had nine young men surrender because their families brought them in. Whoever wins society will win this war.” Thus far, it seems this tactic is promising.
However, when discussing the foundation of Saudi society, the family, one controversial subject is regularly addressed by the book – that is, the role of women in Saudi Arabia. It is perhaps the status of women, their limited rights in the eyes of foreigners, that makes Westerners feel most alienated from Saudis. Lacey tackles this subject exposing the differing levels of acceptance amongst women of the behaviour that is expected of them while in Saudi Arabia.
The story of one woman, Suzanne Al-Mashhadi, a social worker who wrote an article on her position as a woman in Saudi Arabia in the Riyadh Newspaper Al-Hayat. In this article she overtly criticized the status of women in the country. Expecting criticism for her beliefs, she said however that she expected most of it to come from men. To her surprise, the opposite occurred.
Almost all the nasty emails, and certainly the really bitter ones, came from women – from other women who cursed me to hell: You are a liberal, you are a secular, you do not represent us. I wondered if some of the notes had been sent by men pretending to be women. But the encouraging emails all seemed to come from men. When did Saudi men get so liberal? I wondered. I never noticed the change. This is the big problem in Saudi society.
A small anecdote, yet truly insightful into the structures that support Saudi society today. Lacey’s incorporation of this story serves as proof that while many women in the country may be against the expectations that are had of them, another strong proportion embrace these customs and feel their identity is threatened when these are questioned. The accusation of “liberal” (read westernized) echoes a similar tone, according to Lacey, expressed by the more conservative elements of the religious establishment in regard to different issues.
Interestingly, Lacey demonstrates that aside from what one would expect, the Royal family has done much to equilibrate the status of men and women. Beginning with another anecdote of the extreme attitude of some towards women, Lacey tells the unfortunate story of a girls’ school in Mecca that caught fire in 2002. The girls, dressed in their uniforms, had not had time to collect their abayas as they were trying to exit the building. Guarding the entrance of the building were members of the religious police, who did not allow the girls to exit the building without their abayas, leading to the death of fifteen girls, and the injury of at least 50 others. Yet in this case, the Saudi press gathered information and the scandal felt by communities led to the Crown Prince’s decision that it was time for change. “The Kingdom’s schools for girls would henceforward be supervised like those for boys, by the Ministry of Education.”
Although it may appear as a small sign of change to some, Lacey takes this example as proof of the Saudi government’s acknowledgement that there are conservative elements in Saudi society that have caused damage, and that need to be reformed. In this sense, Lacey’s portrayal of the royal family is one that depicts the majority of its members as greatly responsive to Saudi’s and their needs.
While Inside the Kingdom takes a look at a plethora of issues that define Saudi Arabia’s place internationally, Lacey pays a great amount of attention to its relationship with the United States. As one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East, Lacey demonstrates how Saudi Arabia has been put in difficult positions when the US’s interference in the region has been deemed questionable by other Arab countries. One notable example is the case of the Gulf War. After having believed the promises of Sadam Hussein that he would respect the sovereignty of Kuwait, the Saudi government felt understandably betrayed and threatened. Facing the rise of tensions in the region, and the willingness of the US to intervene, the King at the time had to manage internal opposition to the presence of US bases in the country.
Lacey recounts how
Faced with an armed threat on his border, Fahd obviously spoke to his military, but his most important calls were to the religious establishment, and to Abdul Aziz Bin Baz in particular. Would the Ulema support him, asked the king if he had to turn to America for military assistance? The answer was a prompt and unanimous no. The Wahhabi tradition… was to seek separation from non-believers: ‘Let there not be two religions in Arabia.’
A similar distrust of American forces in Saudi Arabia was felt by citizens who believed what one Saudi described:
When I saw those huge American convoys travelling, I knew that they had not come here for me, for my people, or for my government what nonsense to say that they had come halfway around the world to protect me! They had come to protect their own interests – because they didn’t want Saddam to control their oil...
Given the questionable interests of the US in the Middle East, and the general distrust this attitude fomented, Saudi Arabia’s relationship to the US, if only for internal pressures has been complicated despite its relative closeness. Never was this clearer according to Lacey than after 9/11 when the special relationship was re-evaluated by both sides, with Saudi Arabia looking to replace its dependence on the US by coming closer to other powerful countries like China and Russia.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan liked to compare the long standing US-Saudi relationship to a Catholic Marriage. There might be rows and dalliance, he would say …. But the marriage would go on forever. Then in the spring of 2004 his nominal boss, Prince Saud Al-Faisal… out-twinkled his cousin with a new definition. “It is not a Catholic marriage... It’s a Muslim marriage.” The Muslim husband is allowed up to four wives, providing that he treats them all with fairness – so that would be Saudi Arabia’s new course in the difficult days that followed 9/11.
The new relationships that Saudi Arabia has developed with other countries which have interests in the region is indicative of the changes that took place in the international arena following 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. These events, Lacey notes, altered the political topography of the region and created conditions in which the special relationship Saudi Arabia previously had with the US demanded a re-evaluation. While the conduct of the Bush administration appears to have had a heavy hand in these developments, it us unclear whether recent changes in American foreign policy will imply a renewed strength to the American-Saudi bond.
Overall, Inside the Kingdom is daring in its ability to address a multiplicity of issues that have shaped Saudi Arabia. Lacey’s strength in presenting this country to readers unfamiliar with its culture and history lies in his ability to provide anecdote after anecdote, creating a real sense of the values that people in the country hold dear. Entertaining and informative at its best, Inside the Kingdom is recommendable to those looking for insight into Saudi Arabia’s paradoxes from a Westerner’s perspective – yet filled with substantial support from Middle Eastern and Saudi sources – Lacey’s investigative work gives further weight to the conclusions his latest book arrives at.
