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Unholy kingdom : religion, corruption and violence in Saudi Arabia

Ruthven, Malise2025
Books, Manuscripts
In recent years Saudi Arabia has promoted itself as an open country: oil-rich but investing in culture, tourism, social innovation, and establishing itself as a beacon in the Middle East mired in violence. But the murder in October 2018 of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Istanbul embassy reveals a darker reality: the intensification of the repression of religious and political criticism and protest driven by the war in Yemen, sectarian rivalry with Iran, and volatile relations with the United States during the Trump administration. In 'Unholy Kingdom', Malise Ruthven a leading commentator on Islamic affairs, reconstructs the history of the nation and shows how its attempts to modernise itself have produced repression, corruption, and war across the region fuelled by themassive arms purchases paid for by the oil exports that contribute to global warming.
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