Saudi Arabia in Transition: Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change. Edited by Bernard Haykel, Thomas Hegghammer and Stephane Lacroix. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 351. ISBN: 978-0-521-18509-7

Abstract

Saudi Arabia in Transition is a collection of works by scholars from various backgrounds who have carried out in-depth research on one of the most obscure countries in terms of its cultural identity and political system. Since the Arab Uprising which started in 2011, countries in the Middle East have had to look into the mirror and reformulate their claim to legitimacy. While Saudi Arabia did not have the same revolutionist fervour as did its neighbours to the east and west, it cannot escape pockets of rising dissent in its own community. While this book was published in 2015, it may provide important insights into how Saudi Arabia is changing, and more importantly, provide a background to help understand the direction and pace of reform that is undertaken by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman who has been the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia since 2017.