CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 38

SAUDI ARABIA ON THE ROAD TO MODERNIZATION: REALITY OR MYTH?
Over the course of the 20 th century through the beginning of the 21 st
century, Wahhabism in many cases has become the ideological basis for
religious-political radical movements and militant Islamism, spreading to
various corners of the world. Petrodollars were contributed for the purpose
of “exporting” Wahhabism in the 1960’s. This contributed to the weakening
of the position of national Islam in favor of the Wahhabi interpretations of
Islam in different parts of the world, including in Europe and the USSR, and,
after the latter’s collapse, in separate post-Soviet republics. It is perhaps no
surprise that 15 of the 19 participants in the well-known September 11, 2001
New York terrorist attacks were Saudi Arabian citizens. 13
“We are returning to what we were before - a country of moderate
Islam that is open to all religions and to the world,” Mohammed bin Salman
said to international investors in Riyadh in October 2017 during the FII
summit. The crown prince told the Guardian that “what happened in the last
30 years is not Saudi Arabia.” He explicitly blamed the Kingdom’s turn
towards ultraconservatism on the Iranian revolution in 1979 and Tehran's
attempts to spread the revolution across the Middle East. 14
Mohammed bin Salman asked for global support to transform the
hard-line Kingdom into an open society that empowers citizens and lures
investors. He said the ultra-conservative state had been “not normal” for the
past 30 years, blaming rigid doctrines that have governed society in response
to the Iranian revolution, which successive leaders “didn’t know how to deal
with.” “We are a G20 country. One of the biggest world economies. We’re
in the middle of three continents. Changing Saudi Arabia for the better
means helping the region and changing the world. So this is what we are
trying to do here. And we hope we get support from everyone”. 15
Bin Salman’s remarks on “moderate Islam” came a month after Saudi
Arabia made a landmark decision to allow women to legally drive vehicles
starting in June 2018, a move that was criticised by some conservative
voices among the Wahhabi ulama and social media, but welcomed by human
rights activists. Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world where
women were not allowed to drive. 16
13
Uri Friedman, “Where Americas terrorists actually come from,” The Atlantic, January 30,
2017,
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/trump-immigration-ban-
terrorism/514361/ (accessed April 4, 2019).
14
“Saudi Crown prince promises return to moderate Islam,” Al Jazeera, October 25, 2017,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/saudi-crown-prince-promises-return-moderate-
islam-171024182102549.html (accessed March 30, 2019)
15
“I will return Saudi Arabia to moderate Islam, says crown prince,” The Guardian, October
24,
2017,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/i-will-return-saudi-arabia-
moderate-islam-crown-prince accessed (April 5, 2019).
16
“Saudi Crown prince promises return to moderate Islam,” Al Jazeera, October 24,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/saudi-crown-prince-promises-return-moderate-
islam-171024182102549.html (accessed March 28, 2019).
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