Saudi Islamists and the Arab Spring
Abstract
The Arab Spring has had little visible impact on Saudi Arabia, except in the Eastern
Province, where relatively large Shia protests were met with deadly repression.
However, it would be a mistake to think that the revolutionary events taking place in the
Arab world did not spur debate in the remaining segments of Saudi society. Sunni
Islamists were at the forefront of the debate, as they saw ‘comrades’ of the same
ideological orientation participating in revolutions and seizing power throughout the
region. Most of them agreed that Saudi Arabia needed change, although they would
quickly disagree on the nature and the extent of it. Still, a significant rapprochement
took place in 2011 and 2012 between Islamists of all backgrounds and non-Islamist
political activists around the issue of political reform and the fate of political prisoners.
Yet this was short-lived. By 2012, fundamental disagreements on social issues were
pulling Islamists and liberals apart, as had been the case since the 1990s. Political
dissent remained, but on a smaller scale. This did not stop the Saudi government from
taking drastic measures against the Kingdom’s Islamists, especially after the summer of
2013.
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