How Many States Did Saudi Arabia Have

Finally, Nazer claims that the kingdom "has taken concrete steps to raise awareness about the many civil rights that are protected under Saudi law and regulations." In fact, there are precious few human rights protections in Saudi Arabia. Criticism of the government is effectively illegal and is met with prison time and flogging. Political parties, trade unions, and independent human rights organizations are strictly forbidden, and Saudis involved in such unrecognized groups are routinely arrested and prosecuted. As of recently, Saudis can form NGOs, but the authorities can dissolve any association that fails to meet exceedingly vague standards of harming public morality or national unity.

The kingdom's criminal justice system lacks even the most basic due process and is marked by arbitrary arrests, a lack of fair trials, and blatant disregard for international judicial standards. According to numerous human rights reports, torture is used to obtain "confessions." The death penalty is carried out through public beheading. So far in 2017, forty-four people have been executed, reportedly 41 percent of whom were for non-violent actions such as attending a political protest. The kingdom spends 8% of its GDP on the military , which places it as the world's third biggest military spender behind the United States and China, and the world's largest arms importer from 2015 to 2019, receiving half of all the US arms exports to the Middle East. According to the BICC, Saudi Arabia is the 28th most militarized country in the world and possesses the second-best military equipment qualitatively in the region, after Israel. By the late 2010s, there have been continual calls for halting of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, mainly due to alleged war crimes in Yemen and especially following the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.

Repression of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly intensified. Among those harassed, arbitrarily detained, prosecuted and/or jailed were government critics, women's rights activists, human rights defenders, relatives of activists, journalists, members of the Shi'a minority and online critics of government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtually all known Saudi Arabian human rights defenders inside the country were detained or imprisoned at the end of the year. Grossly unfair trials continued before the Specialized Criminal Court and other courts. Courts resorted extensively to the death penalty and people were executed for a wide range of crimes.

Migrant workers were even more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation because of the pandemic, and thousands were arbitrarily detained in dire conditions, leading to an unknown number of deaths. Following recognition in 1931, the United States and Saudi Arabia established full diplomatic relations, with exchange of credentials and the first U.S. ambassadorial posting to Jeddah, in 1940. Saudi Arabia's unique role in the Arab and Islamic worlds, its holding of the world's second largest reserves of oil, and its strategic location all play a role in the long-standing bilateral relationship between the Kingdom and the United States. The United States and Saudi Arabia have a common interest in preserving the stability, security, and prosperity of the Gulf region and consult closely on a wide range of regional and global issues. Saudi Arabia plays an important role in working toward a peaceful and prosperous future for the region and is a strong partner in security and counterterrorism efforts and in military, diplomatic, and financial cooperation. Its forces work closely with U.S. military and law enforcement bodies to safeguard both countries' national security interests.

The United States and Saudi Arabia also enjoy robust cultural and educational ties with some 37,000 Saudi students studying in U.S. colleges and universities and scores of educational and cultural exchange visitors each year. The United States also provides promising youth and emerging Saudi leaders the opportunity to experience the United States and its institutions through the International Visitor Leadership Program and various other exchange programs. The king combines legislative, executive, and judicial functions and royal decrees form the basis of the country's legislation. The king is also the prime minister, and presides over the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia and Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia.

The family's vast numbers allow it to control most of the kingdom's important posts and to have an involvement and presence at all levels of government. The number of princes is estimated to be at least 7,000, with most power and influence being wielded by the 200 or so male descendants of Ibn Saud. The key ministries are generally reserved for the royal family, as are the 13 regional governorships. The vast wealth generated by oil revenues was beginning to have an even greater impact on Saudi society. It led to rapid technological modernization, urbanization, mass public education, and the creation of new media.

This and the presence of increasingly large numbers of foreign workers greatly affected traditional Saudi norms and values. Although there was a dramatic change in the social and economic life of the country, political power continued to be monopolized by the royal family leading to discontent among many Saudis who began to look for wider participation in government. Allegations of torture by police and prison officials are common, and access to prisoners by independent human rights and legal organizations is extremely limited. In March 2019, international media published leaked prison medical records indicating that a number of political prisoners suffered from cuts, bruises, burns, and malnutrition. Detained women's rights activists were reportedly given electric shocks, whipped, beaten, sexually abused, and threatened with rape. The family of Loujain al-Hathloul stated she had been offered freedom on the condition that she recant her torture allegations, but she refused.

Meanwhile, the conflict continues to take a heavy toll on Yemeni civilians, making Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The UN estimates that 131,000 of the estimated 233,000 deaths in Yemen since 2015 are the result of indirect causes like food insecurity and lack of access health services. Nearly twenty-five million Yemenis remain in need of assistance, five million are at risk of famine, and a cholera outbreak has affected over one million people. All sides of the conflict are reported to have violated human rights and international humanitarian law. In its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2010, Transparency International gave Saudi Arabia a score of 4.7 (on a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is "highly corrupt" and 10 is "highly clean"). A number of prominent Saudi Arabian princes, government ministers, and businesspeople, including Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, were arrested in Saudi Arabia in November 2017.

The government has taken some steps to combat corruption and recover misappropriated assets, but its opaque methods have raised serious concerns about politicization and lack of due process. The crown prince heads an anticorruption committee, which in 2017 ordered the detention of more than 300 people, many of whom were coerced into turning over billions of dollars in assets to the state. Bin Salman's campaign has targeted potential rivals within the royal family, leading observers to suggest these crackdowns are meant to consolidate his political and economic control.

Major crackdowns and arrests continued in 2020, with 298 government employees being arrested for corruption in March. Another 59 were arrested in October, and over $160 million worth of assets were seized. Saudi Arabia's absolute monarchy restricts almost all political rights and civil liberties. The regime relies on pervasive surveillance, the criminalization of dissent, appeals to sectarianism and ethnicity, and public spending supported by oil revenues to maintain power. Women and religious minorities face extensive discrimination in law and in practice. Working conditions for the large expatriate labor force are often exploitative.

The Saudi government, which mandates Muslim and non-Muslim observance of Sharia law under the absolute rule of the House of Saud, have been accused of and denounced by various international organizations and governments for violating human rights within the country. The totalitarian regime ruling the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked among the "worstest" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights. According to Amnesty International, security forces continued to torture and ill- treat detainees to extract confessions to be used as evidence against them at trial. Saudi Arabia abstained from the United Nations vote adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saying it contradicted sharia law. Mass execution such as those carried out in 2016 and in 2019 have been condemned by international rights groups.

Khalid's reign saw economic and social development progress at an extremely rapid rate, transforming the infrastructure and educational system of the country; in foreign policy, close ties with the US were developed. In 1979, two events occurred which greatly concerned the government, and had a long-term influence on Saudi foreign and domestic policy. It was feared that the country's Shi'ite minority in the Eastern Province might rebel under the influence of their Iranian co-religionists. There were several anti-government uprisings in the region such as the 1979 Qatif Uprising. Gulf states often favor a unilateral approach in their interventions in sub-Saharan Africa, but they could benefit from working in partnership with like-minded international powers. As GCC states rapidly expand their global footprint, they will need to commit significant resources to protect it.

As they increase their mediating role in Africa, Gulf states could also benefit from the experience of countries that have historically had deeper ties with sub-Saharan Africa and more extensive involvement in diplomatic negotiations, such as the United States and European powers. When seeking economic collaborations, Gulf policymakers will need to be sensitive to other powers' differing priorities. Western donors are particularly sensitive about corruption issues, for example, and are more likely to impose strict conditions on investment activities. Saudi and Emirati leaders want a clear-cut victory in their regional rivalry with Iran, and they have been emboldened by the Trump administration's unconditional support to stall negotiations. A recent UN effort to hold peace talks between the Houthis, Hadi's government, and the Saudi-led coalition collapsed in early September, after the Houthi delegation did not show up in Geneva.

Houthi leaders said the Saudis, who control Yemen's airspace, would not guarantee their safe travel. Days later, Yemeni forces loyal to the Saudi-UAE alliance launched a new offensive aimed at forcing the Houthis out of Hodeidah port, which is the major conduit for humanitarian aid in Yemen. UN officials warn that a prolonged battle for the port and its surroundings could lead to the death of 250,000 people, mainly from mass starvation.

The Trump administration has shown little interest in using arms deals as leverage for a political settlement, or to force the Saudis to take concerns about civilian deaths more seriously. In March 2017, Trump reversed a decision by the Obama administration to suspend the sale of more than $500 million in laser-guided bombs and other munitions to the Saudi military. As more members of Congress expressed criticism of Saudi actions in Yemen, the Senate narrowly approved that sale. After the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at several Saudi cities in late 2017, the Trump administration again escalated U.S. involvement in the war. The New York Times broke the news that the Pentagon had secretly dispatched U.S. special forces to the Saudi-Yemen border to help the Saudi military locate and destroy Houthi missile sites. Frustrated by the deepening U.S. role, two dozen members of the House introduced a resolution this week invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, arguing that Congress never authorized American support for the Saudi coalition and instructing Trump to withdraw U.S. forces.

He argues that Saudi Arabia has undergone an "important shift in political culture" to become more open and inclusive, and references Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman's "ambitious" reform plans. In reality, the kingdom — an absolute monarchy and one of the world's most repressive countries — bears zero resemblance to the United States, even as American democracy is buffeted by many challenges. Academics have faced punishment for criticizing government policies or for other reasons. History professor and women's rights activist Hatoon al-Fassi was arrested in 2018, days after her comments on the crown prince's reforms were publicized. She was provisionally released in May 2019, along with three other activists, but still awaits a trial for illegal contact with foreign media, diplomats, and human rights groups.

In August 2020, academic Abdullah Ibn Ali Basfar was arrested under unclear circumstances. Some 30 women served in the last parliament, and a female deputy speaker was appointed in October 2020. Women secured about 1 percent of the seats in the 2015 municipal council elections. Shiites reportedly hold a small number of Majlis al-Shura seats and many municipal council seats in Shiite-majority areas. The fact that U.S. troops are withdrawing from the kingdom makes no difference to Al Qaeda. On May 12, 2003 Al Qaeda militants attack three compounds in Riyadh that house hundreds of foreign workers.

Shocked, Saudi society and the royal family begin to look inward and to question how their own citizens could have been behind the attacks. Obesity is a problem among middle and upper-class Saudis who have domestic servants to do traditional work but, until 2018, were forbidden to drive and so are limited in their ability to leave their home. The religious police, known as the mutawa, imposed many restrictions on women in public in Saudi Arabia.

The restrictions include forcing women to sit in separate specially designated family sections in restaurants, to wear an abaya and to cover their hair. However, in 2016, the Saudi cabinet has drastically reduced the power of the religious police and barred it "from pursuing, questioning, asking for identification, arresting and detaining anyone suspected of a crime". From 2003 to 2013, "several key services" were privatized—municipal water supply, electricity, telecommunications—and parts of education and health care, traffic control and car accident reporting were also privatized.

In November 2005, Saudi Arabia was approved as a member of the World Trade Organization. Negotiations to join had focused on the degree to which Saudi Arabia is willing to increase market access to foreign goods and in 2000, the government established the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority to encourage foreign direct investment in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia maintains a list of sectors in which foreign investment is prohibited, but the government plans to open some closed sectors such as telecommunications, insurance, and power transmission/distribution over time. The government has also made an attempt at "Saudizing" the economy, replacing foreign workers with Saudi nationals with limited success. GCC states have expanded their diplomatic ties with sub-Saharan African states to bolster their growing economic and security interests, while also advancing their ambitions to play a more prominent role in international foreign policy. Gulf states have opened dozens of new embassies across sub-Saharan Africa in recent years and have made assertive diplomatic interventions in African conflicts.

The perception of the United States' withdrawal from the region has partially motivated these interventions. Mediating conflicts is a key element of GCC states' aim to increase their international prestige, and their perceived neutrality and ability to deploy substantial economic incentives to bolster peace agreements has afforded them some notable successes where others have failed. The Saudis and Emiratis have largely ignored international criticism of civilian deaths and appeals for a political settlement—and the Trump administration's latest signal of support shows that strategy is working. Investigations by the UN and other bodies have found both the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition responsible for potential war crimes.

But air strikes by the Saudis and their allies "have caused most of the documented civilian casualties," the UN concluded in a report last month. On August 9, the Saudi coalition bombed a school bus in the northern town of Dahyan, killing 54 people, 44 of them children, and wounding dozens, according to Yemeni health officials. Russia's decision, in fact, will likely further advance US interests and strengthen its hand. The conservative capital city of Saudi Arabia is one of the world's wealthiest cities, combining traditional ideals and cultural values with modern developments in trade, business, architecture and tourism. Dedicated to upholding traditional Islamic values yet undergoing significant change following growing economic prosperity and innovation, Riyadh is a city full of contradictions.

This makes it both intriguing and confusing for many foreigners, though there's also plenty to ensure visitors are comfortable – including swanky hotels overlooking the surrounding desert, and the fact that almost everyone speaks business English. King Saud University, the second-ranked university in Saudi Arabia, is located here. The authorities arbitrarily detained, prosecuted and imprisoned human rights defenders and family members of women's rights activists for their peaceful activities and human rights work, including under the Counter-Terrorism Law and Anti-Cyber Crime Law.

By the end of the year, virtually all Saudi Arabian human rights defenders were in detention without charge, or were on trial or serving prison terms. The authorities escalated repression of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including through a crackdown on online expression and undue restrictions on freedom of expression related to the government's responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. They harassed, arbitrarily detained and prosecuted government critics, human rights defenders, family members of activists and many others.

And providing an opportunity for its armed forces to gain significant experience of warfare. The state's oil revenues make up the vast majority of its financial resources, but these are tightly controlled by the royal family, which uses the same income to support itself. In 2018 and 2019, the state oil company, Saudi Aramco, provided more income and expenditure information in preparation for an initial public offering. However, amid ongoing questions about its relationship with the government, the company opted that December to list shares only on a domestic stock exchange, which entailed less transparency than would be required on a major international exchange. With such a large population, the majority of Saudi Arabian residents live in the urbanized cities. Just 17% of the population lives in the country's rural areas, while the remaining 83% live in the larger cities that provide more opportunities, both in industries including oil, finance and agriculture, and education.

How Many States Does Saudi Arabia Have This is a dramatic decrease from the 1960 recorded rural population of 69% of the population. Like many other countries, however, the development and expansion of cities, combined with migrants and natives moving to the cities, has contributed to the decline in rural populations. Throughout history, women did not have equal rights to men in the kingdom; the U.S. State Department considers Saudi Arabian government's discrimination against women a "significant problem" in Saudi Arabia and notes that women have few political rights due to the government's discriminatory policies. The World Economic Forum 2021 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 147th out of 156 countries for gender parity. However, since Mohammed bin Salman was appointed Crown Prince in 2017, a series of social reforms have been witnessed regarding women's rights.

Health care in Saudi Arabia is a national health care system in which the government provides free health care services through a number of government agencies. Saudi Arabia has been ranked among the 26 best countries in providing high quality healthcare. The Saudi Ministry of Health is the major government agency entrusted with the provision of preventive, curative, and rehabilitative health care for the Kingdom's population. The Ministry's origins can be traced to 1925, when a number of regional health departments were established, with the first in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

The various healthcare institutions were merged to become a ministerial body in 1950. Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud was the first health minister and served in the position for three years, with his main role to set up the newly formed Ministry. The unexpected impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, along with Saudi Arabia's poor human rights records, laid unforeseen challenges before the development plans of the Kingdom, where some of the programs under 'Vision 2030' were also expected to be affected.

On 2 May, the Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia admitted that the country's economy was facing a severe economical crisis for the first time in decades, due to the pandemic as well as declining global oil markets. Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that the country will take "painful" measures and keep all options open to deal with the impact. As GCC states consolidate their status as important actors in sub-Saharan Africa, new opportunities are emerging for the United States to cooperate with its Gulf partners in the region.

U.S. policymakers could further capitalize on GCC states' desire to prove their credentials as serious partners in counterterrorism to share the burden of the security role in sub-Saharan Africa. Peace negotiations could benefit from a combination of GCC states' ability to offer African actors substantial economic incentives and U.S. diplomats' extensive experience with the history and complexity of African conflicts. Gulf states can also help advance the United States' development goals in sub-Saharan Africa. More extensive collaboration in building infrastructure and urban development would be especially worthwhile. The Jeddah Peace Agreement is the latest example of Arab Gulf states' increasingly assertive interventions in sub-Saharan Africa.