6 - National Cohesion and the Political Economy of Regions in Post–World War II Saudi Arabia

Summary

This chapter discusses the role of the kingdom’s main regions in structuring and defining a socioeconomic pecking order that, despite increasing national integration, has lost little of its poignancy – an order that has led to strong rivalries and ill will on a quotidian level but that, at the end of the day, seems to allow the regime to keep the kingdom together through divide and rule strategies.

After a brief discussion of the infrastructural power of the Saudi state, the chapter will measure regional inequality over time through a number of proxy variables, showing that there is a rather clear socioeconomic hierarchy of regions within the kingdom. This fragments society materially. But as even the most disadvantaged groups remain strongly dependent on the state – and indeed tend to be the worst organized – it does not undermine the cohesion of the system, but rather creates an internal hierarchy that is very difficult to effectively challenge.

The subsequent pages specifically analyze regional inequality in private business over time, showing again that there has been a discernible shift of resources in favor of the more privileged central provinces. It also elucidates, however, the rather large degree of integration among top business elites across regions as evidenced by themixed composition of boards of directors of various large enterprises. Saudi Arabia’s national economy today is tightly integrated, and regional markets have lost much of their material importance, even if regionalism on a sociocultural level is still strong among many businesspeople.