Current Analysis Saudi Arabia's Dangerous Sectarian Game When Saudi Arabia executed the Shiite cleric and political dissident Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, the country’s leaders were aware that doing so would upset their long-time rivals in Iran. In fact, the royal court in Riyadh was probably counting on it. It got what it wanted. The deterioration of Toby Jones • 3 min read
MER Article "Energy Security" Over the last few decades, the phrase “energy security” has spread like an oil spot from specialized literature outward into the standard lexicon of reporters and politicians. Like “security” itself, it is a term whose meaning seems transparent but resists precise definition, in part because the mea Toby Jones • 10 min read
Current Analysis Stuck (or Not) in a "Special Relationship" What to make of the anxieties surfacing [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/next-test-for-obama-soothing-the-saudis] in the press in advance of President Barack Obama’s stopover in Saudi Arabia? Is the US-Saudi “special relationship” [http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=10072] really Toby Jones • 3 min read
MER Article Embracing Crisis in the Gulf All claims to the contrary, the Persian Gulf monarchies have been deeply affected by the Arab revolutionary ferment of 2011-2012. Bahrain may be the only country to experience its own sustained upheaval, but the impact has also been felt elsewhere. Demands for a more participatory politics are on th Toby Jones • 9 min read
Current Analysis A Revolution Paused in Bahrain An uncertain calm has settled over the small island kingdom of Bahrain. The wave of peaceful pro-democracy protests from February 14-17 culminated in bloodshed, including the brutal murder of seven activists, some of whom were asleep in tents, by the armed forces. On orders from above, the army with Cortni Kerr, Toby Jones • 13 min read
MER Article Saudi Alchemy The abundance of oil in Saudi Arabia is staggering. With more than 250 billion barrels, the kingdom possesses one-fifth of the world’s oil reserves, affording it considerable influence Toby Jones • 14 min read
MER Article Saudi Arabia's Not So New Anti-Shi`ism Enmity for the Shi‘a in Saudi Arabia, never entirely absent, has become increasingly strident in 2006 and early 2007. The empowerment of the Iraqi Shi‘a and the bloody escalation of Sunni-Shi‘i violence in Iraq have intensified sectarian animosity around the Middle East, but in Saudi Arabia the host Toby Jones • 9 min read
MER Article The Iraq Effect in Saudi Arabia Shi‘is in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have watched Iraq’s political transformation with a combination of horror and optimism. Iraq’s slide toward civil war, the carnage wrought by militant violence and the targeted slaughter of thousands of Iraqi Shi‘is by Sunni insurgents have sown fears among Shi‘ Toby Jones • 15 min read
Current Analysis Violence and the Illusion of Reform in Saudi Arabia After nine months of increasing internal and external pressure, the Saudi royal family has recently appeared ready to make major changes in the way government is done in the Arabian Peninsula. On October 13, 2003, the Consultative Council—a nominally autonomous body that in reality reflects the royal will—announced Toby Jones • 12 min read
MER Article Seeking a "Social Contract" for Saudi Arabia For most of its history, the royal family of Saudi Arabia has maintained public order by exercising absolute, at times brutal, control over the people of the country. The House of Saud has tolerated neither resistance nor the questioning of its authority. But in the mayhem of 2003, with war Toby Jones • 19 min read
