Sunday, October 10, 2010

Saudi Arabia: state and society

This is a massive book: Saudi Arabia: Account of State and Society" (in Arabic) by `Abd-`Aziz Al-Khudur.  It is more like an encyclopedia, than anything else.  The author studies the debates in Saudi Arabia about culture, religion, media, opposition, and women.  His perspective is quite sympathetic to the government but he has done his homework.   He traces developments in the Saudi media and identifies various trends.  One reviewer in the book on the Saudi sleaze website, Elaph, criticize the author only because he cites one line by me about Saudi control of the Arab media.  (but the line attributed to me is not sourced and I don't recall saying it).