The only country in the world named after its current ruling family, Saudi Arabia, traces its origins back nearly three centuries to an alliance between a central Arabian clan (the Saud) and a revivalist Islamic ideology (Wahhabism). Although long secretive and obscure, Saudi Arabia has become increasingly open and has inspired an abundance of recent studies
Commins examined the religious pillar of the Saudi state in two earlier books: The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia (2005) and Islam in Saudi Arabia (2016). In Saudi Arabia, he embarks on a larger, more ambitious portrait of its unique polity.
His first three chapters, which provide a short history of the two early Saudi states, offer an indispensable basis for understanding the contemporary third Saudi state. Chapter 4 takes up the third state, centering on the conquests of its founder Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud: Riyadh and Najd (1902–1913), the Eastern Province (1913), and the Hijaz (1924–1925), culminating in the state being named the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1932). His many sons have ruled the kingdom since his death in 1953 (though his grandson Muhammad bin Salman, or MbS, took effective control in 2015). Those sons generally emulated his caution and, like him, gave priority to Saudi state interests over Wahhabi norms.
Chapter 5 deals with the discovery of oil and the challenge of managing this new financial resource under Abd al-Aziz (1932–1953). Chapter 7 takes up the oil boom of 1975–2000.
Chapters 6, 8, and 9 focus on foreign policy challenges: revolutionary Arab nationalism, the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the emergence of al-Qaeda and ISIS, and the “Arab Spring” upheavals.
Chapter 10 covers the MbS period, concisely summarizing the changes under his leadership. Commins rightly emphasizes several salient developments: liberating public space from religious oversight, turning Wahhabi doctrine into the kingdom’s national heritage, and preparing for a post-petroleum economy.
Commins navigates wisely among several internal challenges facing the kingdom: issues of royal family succession and cohesion, the role of the Wahhabi establishment in state affairs, the distribution of wealth, demands for reforms, and attitudes toward the Shiite community. He also deals well with regional threats. Although Commins relies entirely on secondary sources and presents no new information, his integration of the available material into a comprehensive account constitutes a highly valuable contribution.
Jacob Goldberg
Former Acting Head of the Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University
