"A thorough analysis of the country and of America's relationship with it. . . . Useful for readers seeking to understand the complexities of Saudi society and U.S. interests."
—Library Journal

?Serves best as a source of information and some insight into the tactical questions facing the Saudi and U.S. ruling classes.?
—International Socialist Review

"Many illuminating essays."
—The Economist

"A welcome and breathtaking burst of new knowledge. There is no volume today that contains so much useful material."
—Joshua Teitelbaum, author of The Rise and Fall of the Hashemite Kingdom of Arabia

"Aarts and Nonneman have organized the essays to complement one another in tone and content and to highlight both empirical and theoretical approaches."
—Library Journal

?This highly informative edited volume goes a long way in offering a much-needed crudite and scholarly analysis of contemporary Saudi Arabia.?
—Highly recommended, CHOICE

"Saudi Arabia in the Balance is far and away the best book on the politics of contemporary Saudi Arabia. The contributors are serious, long-time students of the country; many have spent considerable time there. They engage the issues roiling Saudi politics with depth, sophistication and an attention to detail that is commendable. They represent a spectrum of views on the country, but grind no ideological axes. In all, it is a perfect antidote to the rash of shallow and sensationalist books on Saudi Arabia in recent years."—F. Gregory Gause, author of Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States.

?This book achieves its own weighty balance...a successful venture in international scholarship and a coherent book.?
—Foreign Affairs

?Any educated reader, and to a greater extent policy analyst, will find this volume precious in understanding a country that is too often either criticized a priori or praised sycophantically.?
—Matteo Legrenzi, Cranfield University, UK

Saudi Arabia in the Balance brings together today's leading scholars in the field to investigate the domestic, regional, and international affairs of a Kingdom whose policies have so far eluded the outside world. With the passing of King Fahd and the installation of King Abdullah, a contemporary understanding of Saudi Arabia is essential as the Kingdom enters a new era of leadership and particularly when many Saudis themselves are increasingly debating, and actively shaping, the future direction of domestic and foreign affairs.

Each of the essays, framed in the aftermath of 9/11 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, offers a systematic perspective into the country's political and economic realities as well as the tension between its regional and global roles. Important topics covered include U.S. and Saudi relations; Saudi oil policy; the Islamist threat to the monarchy regime; educational opportunities; the domestic rise of liberal opposition; economic reform; the role of the royal family; and the country's foreign relations in a changing international world.

Contributors: Paul Aarts, Madawi Al-Rasheed, Rachel Bronson, Iris Glosemeyer, Steffen Hertog, Yossi Kostiner, Stéphane Lacroix, Giacomo Luciani, Monica Malik, Roel Meijer, Tim Niblock, Gerd Nonneman, Michaela Prokop, Abdulaziz Sager, Guido Steinberg