Saudi Arabian regional policy

Description

The article examines how Saudi regional policy has been profoundly shaken under King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman into an assertive one, stemming from the radical shift to a vertical and repressive domestic policy. It stresses how much the generational gap between both leaders, who do not share the same world vision, has created confusion and downgraded the Saudi leadership externally. The article also emphasises how Mohammed bin Salman is amending Saudi regional policy, as marked by the Covid-19 pandemic moment and the election of President Biden. This resolute, changing regional policy may help to restore Saudi Arabia’s regional voice due to its central positioning.

Fatiha Dazi-Héni is a researcher in Political science on Arab monarchies at IRSEM in Paris and Associated professor on Contemporary History in the Arabian Peninsula at the Political Institute of Lille. Her publications include Monarchie et Sociétés d’Arabie. Le temps des confrontations. (Presses de Sciences PO, 2006 and L’Arabie Saoudite en 100 questions, edited 3 times (Editions Tallendier: 2017, and Texto : 2018 and 2020). She has also published many articles on GCC states and societies, on sub-regional dynamics.