0_Wizard
Saudi Arabia , officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a beautiful place to visit
Saudi Arabia (, ), officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a sovereign Arab state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula.
chosen_Saudi_Arabia_0
Saudi Arabia
chosen_topic_0_Saudi_Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia (, ), officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a sovereign Arab state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately , Saudi Arabia is geographically the fifth-largest state in Asia and second-largest state in the Arab world after Algeria. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba. It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains.
Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian stated policy is focused on co-operation with the oil-exporting Gulf States, the unity of the Arab world, Islamic strength and solidarity, and support for the United Nations (UN). In practice, the main concerns in recent years have been relations with the US, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iraq, the perceived threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran, the effect of oil pricing, and using its oil wealth to increase the influence of Islam and especially the conservative school of Islam supported by the country's rulers (known as Wahhabism). Saudi Arabia contributes large amounts of development aid to Muslim countries.
Iran–Saudi Arabia relations
Iran and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic relations following an attack to Saudi Embassy in Tehran in 2016. Bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been strained over different geo-political issues such as the interpretations of Islam, aspirations for leadership of the Islamic world, oil export policy and relations with the United States and other Western countries. Although Saudi Arabia and Iran are both Muslim-majority nations and follow and rule through Islamic scripture, their relations are fraught with hostility, tension and confrontation, due to differences in political agendas that are strengthened for their differences in faith.
International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism
Starting in the mid-1970s and 1980s, conservative/strict/puritanical interpretations of Sunni Islam favored by the conservative oil-exporting Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, (and to a lesser extent by other Gulf monarchies) have achieved what political scientist Gilles Kepel calls a "preeminent position of strength in the global expression of Islam." The interpretations included not only "Wahhabi" Islam of Saudi Arabia, but Islamist/revivalist Islam, and a "hybrid" of the two interpretations. The impetus for the spread of the interpretations through the Muslim world was ‘the largest worldwide propaganda campaign ever mounted’ (according to political scientist Alex Alexiev), "dwarfing the Soviets’ propaganda efforts at the height of the Cold War" (according to journalist David A. Kaplan), funded by petroleum exports which ballooned following the October 1973 War.
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia are limited in comparison to the rights of women in many of its neighbors. The World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 141 out of 144 countries for gender parity, down from 134 out of 145 in 2015. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) elected Saudi Arabia to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women for 2018–2022. Women in Saudi Arabia constituted 13% of the country's native workforce as of 2015. However, the status of women has changed in recent decades. Women were previously forbidden from voting in all elections or being elected to any political office, but in 2011 King Abdullah let women vote in the 2015 local elections, as well as to be appointed to the Consultative Assembly.
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
A military intervention was launched by Saudi Arabia in 2015, leading a coalition of nine African and Middle East countries, to influence the outcome of the Yemeni Civil War in favour of the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Code-named Operation "Decisive Storm" ( "'Amaliyyat 'Āṣifat al-Ḥazm"), the intervention initially consisted of a bombing campaign on Houthi Rebels and later saw a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces into Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition has attacked the positions of the Houthi militia and loyalists of the former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, allegedly supported by Iran (See Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict), in response to a request from the internationally recognized government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism by region
Following the embargo by Arab oil exporters during the Israeli-Arab October 1973 War, and the vast increase in petroleum export revenue that followed, conservative/strict/puritanical interpretations of Sunni Islam favored by the conservative oil-exporting Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, (and to a lesser extent by other Gulf monarchies) achieved a "preeminent position of strength in the global expression of Islam." The interpretations included not only "Wahhabi" Islam of Saudi Arabia (sometimes called Petro-Islam), but Islamist/revivalist Islam, and a "hybrid" of the two interpretations. From 1982 to 2005 (the reign of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia), over $75 billion is estimated to have been spent in efforts to spread Wahhabi Islam.
1_Apprentice
Ive never thought of going to Saudi Arabia. What is the country like?