Target Saudi Arabia: An Examination of Damaging Narratives

Date: 2020-09-02
Joseph A. Kéchichian

This brief study provides a broad examination of the negative assessments of Saudi Arabia published by several authors intrigued to explore, but never patient enough to understand, adjudicate, and empathize with the Saudi people. While not exhaustive, the research aims to identify problems, evaluates various arguments presented by four writers, and assesses the new political realities that confront the Kingdom. The five books selected for evaluation, by Pascal Menoret, Christine Ockrent, Jonathan Rugman, and Ben Hubbard, represent a fair and representative collection. Because recent books concentrate on Heir Apparent Muhammad bin Salman and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, special attention is devoted to both, to better ascertain motives of various analyses. The research asks whether these highly critical books led authors to skip through due process in their investigations, and closes with an evaluation of the negativity “trend” by raising critical questions that intrepid authors opted to overlook.