CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Hyravy, Samuel |
|---|---|
| Title | Moving Away from Oil: Explaining Shifts in Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia |
| Summary | Since 2015 Saudi Arabia radically shifted its foreign policy by adopting a more active role in the region. This shift is mirroring rise to powers of the Salman branch of al Saud royal family. These changes span from Saudi involvement in Yemen to growing cooperation with Israel as well as their opposition to Iranian nuclear deal. All of these changes are challenging structural realist theories as they are deliberately decreasing Saudi capabilities and posing more security threats. This paper is using literature on oil export countries as a core of the argument that it's essential for MbS to reform their economy. While this is the main priority of the state’s everything else, also foreign policy is subordinated to it. However, these reforms pose significant risks of population backlash even revolt. MbS with the adoption of the diversionary policies aims to prevent protests, shift focus elsewhere, and increase his own popularity and popularity of his reforms. Keywords: Saudi Arabia, Rentier State, Foreign Policy, Oil, Diversionary policy, Mohammed bin Salman |
| Supervisor | Jenne, Erin Kristin |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/hyravy_samuel.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University