Research Article
Year 2023,
Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 15 - 43, 23.06.2023
Abstract
This article employs the theory of constructivism to examine how Saudism, Bedouin/tribal identity, Wahabism, the geopolitics of Saudi Arabia, and its rentier state identity affect the country’s foreign policy determination process. Social constructivism theory suggests that social identities determine national interests and policies. This study aims to analyze the semantic transformations within Saudi Arabia’s identity and their effects on contemporary politics, along with the country’s geopolitical standing and the resulting strategic directions. A comprehensive framework of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy is drawn from various approaches to the identities mentioned. Analyzing the historical and geopolitical narrative of events and concepts that define Saudi identity by using constructivist theory helps us understand how these identities impact Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy in international relations. This study provides insights into the complexities of Saudi Arabia’s identity and foreign policy, highlighting the importance of understanding the role of social identities in national interests and policies. Constructivist theory combined with regional studies will enable a more effective analysis of the different identities and policies in international relations.
References
- Al-Fandy, Mamoun H. “State Islam and State Violence: The Case of Saudi Arabia.” PhD diss., Southern Illinois University, 1993.
- Al-Rasheed, Madawi. Kingdom without borders: Saudi Arabia’s political, religious and media frontiers. London: C. Hurst & Co Publishers, 2008.
- The History of Saudi Arabia. UK, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- Alharbi, Majed. “Reimagining the Ever-Changing Construct of Saudi Writerly Identity: A Heuristic Approach,” Arab World English Journal 11. no. 4 (December 2020): 254-71. doi: 10.24093/awej/vol11no4.17.
- Alpman, Polat S. “Sosyal Teorinin Konusu olarak Kimlik: sosyal İnşaacı Yaklaşım,” Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi 21, no. 2 (October, 2018): 1- 28. https://doi.org/10.18490/sosars.475804
- Akdogan, İsmail & Kalayci, Ridvan. “Suudi Arabistan’da İhyacı Hareketler Olarak Sahve ve Vehhabilik.” Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 1, no.1 (May, 2014): 157-86.
- Anthony, Giddens. Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford, CA.: Stanford University, 1991.
- Anton, Nakov & Nuno, Barrau. “Saudi, Arabia and the Oil Market,” The Economic Journal 123, no.12, (December 2013):1333-1362.
- Balaam, David & Diman, Bradford. Uluslararası Ekonomi Politiğe Giris. Transleted by Nasuh Uslu. Ankara: Adres Publishing, 2020.
- Baladas, Ghoshal. “Arabization Changing Face of Islam in Asia.” India Quarterly 66, no. 1 (2010): 69-89.
- Buzan, Barry and Ole, Wæver. Regions and Powers: The structure of international security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Cagatay, Neset. “Samîler-Araplar ve Guney Arabistan Devletleri.” Ankara Universitesi İlahiyat Fakultesi Dergisi IV, no. 3-4 (1957): 44-68.
- Checkel, Jeffrey, T. “The Constructivist Turn in International Relations Theory”, World Politics 50, no.2 (1998): 324–348.
- Cleveland, William L.& Bunton, Martim. A Modern History of the Middle East. New York: Routledge, 2016.
- Demirtas, Birgul. İnsacılık”, Uluslararası İliskilere Giris, edited by Saban Kardas ve Ali Balcı, 110-123. Kure Publishing, Istanbul, 2014.
- Domazeti, Riad. “Suudi Arabistan'da milli kimlik ve aidiyet inşa sürecinde vehhabiliğin etkisi.” Doctoral thesis, Marmara University, 2022.
- Even Shmuel & Guzansky Yoel, “Saudi Arabia and the Oil Prices.” Institute for National Security Studies, No. 1125, July 3, 2019, https://www.inss.org.il/publication/saudi-arabia-oil-prices-challenge/
- Freer, Courtney. “21st century Bedouin politics: Considering the modern power of tribes in the Arabian Peninsula.” Brookings, January 3, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/01/12/21st- century-bedouin-politics-considering-the-modern-power-of-tribes-in- the-arabian-peninsula/
- Ghaysuddin, M. The Impact of Nationalism on the Muslim World. London: Al-Hoda Publishers, 1986.
- Greenwood, Nicholas Onuf. World of Our Making: Rules and Rule in social Theory and international Relations. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1989.
- Gokcekuyu, Ertugrul. "An Analysis of Al-Djurjani’s Definition of Identity – huwiyya: The then and Now.” Alsuna: Journal of Arabic and English Language 4, no.2 (June 2022): 203-16.
- Heibach, Jens. “Public diplomacy and regional leadership struggles: the case of Saudi Arabia.” International Politics. Novemder 15, 2021. https:// link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-021-00310-7.
- Herb, Michael. “No Representation without Taxation? Rents, Development, and Democracy,” Comperative Politics 37, no. 3 (April 2005): 297-316.https://doi.org/10.2307/20072891
- Kelebek, Mustafa. “Ana Hatlarıyla Fıkıh Usulu.” İslam Medeniyeti Arastırmaları Dergisi (IMAD) 2, no 1. (December 2016): 139-44. Kucuk, Mustafa. “Uluslararası İliskiler Kuramında Konstruktivist Donusu Anlamak.” Ege Akademik Bakis 9, no. 2 (April 2009):771-795. DOI: 10.30903/Balkan.954293.
- Litvak, Meir. “Iran and Saudi Arabia: Report Title: Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, and the New Regional Landscape Begin.” edited by Joshua Teitelbaum, Mideast Security and Policy Studies no. 13, (Macca: Sadat Center for Strategic Studies Iran and Saudi Arabia: Religious and Strategy, 2017): 50-76.
- Maestri, Elena. “4. Saudi National Identity: Historical and Ideational Dimentions.” The Struggle to Define a Nation: Rethinking Religious Nationalism in the Contemporary Islamic World, edited by Marco Demichelis and Paolo Maggiolini, (Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, 2017): 95-122. https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463237257-006
- Maisel, Sebastian. “The New Rise of Tribalism in Saudi Arabia.” Nomadic Peoples 18, no. 2, (special issue: Reshaping Tribal Identities in the Contemporary Arab World 2014):100-122.
- McDowall, Angus. “Saudi tribalism lingers for kingdom’s settled Bedouin.” Reuters, May 8, 2012. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk- saudi-bedouin-idUKTRE80O19Y20120125
- Nevo, Joseph. “Religion and National Identity in Saudi Arabia.” Middle Eastern Studies 34, no.3 (July 1998): 34-53. doi: 10.1080/00263200802586105
- Nonneman, Gerd. Analyzing Middle East Foreign Policies and the Relationship with Europe. UK: Routledge, July 2005.
- Onuf, Nicholas. Making Sense, Making Worlds: Constructivism in Social Theory and International Relations. New York: Routledge, 2013.
- Ozdemir, Ahmet. “Determination and Evaluation of Major Practices Defined as Bid’at in Hanafi Fiqh Books.” Diyanet İlmi Dergi 5, no. 1 ( September 2021) 1 – 16.
- Ozoral, Basak. “Bedevi Asiret Yapısından Sehirli Modern Topluma Donusum Surecinde Dubai Orneği.” İbn Haldun Calısmaları Dergisi 3, no.1 (January15, 2018):117-32. https://doi.org/10.36657/ihcd.2018.39
- Oztop, Mustafa. “The Boomerang Effect of Mohammad Bin Salman in Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy.” Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 6, no.1 (April, 2019): 203-230.
- Patrick, Neil. Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy, Conflict and Cooperation. London; New York: I.B. Tauris, Bloomsbury Publishing: 2016.
- Reus-Smit Christian, “Constructivism.” Theories of International Relations, edited by Scott Burchill, Andrew Linklater, Richard Devetak, Jack Donnelly, Matthew Paterson, Christian Reus-Smit and Jacqui True, 194-211. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1996.
- Salzman, Philip Carl. “The Middle East’s Tribal DNA.” The Middle East Quarterly 15, no. 1, (2008): 23-33.
- Tawfiq, Al-Saif. “Relationship between state and religion in Saudi Arabia.” Contemporary Arab Affairs 6, no. 3 (July 2013):376-403. doi: 10.1080/17550912.2013.822721
- Tayyar, Ari. Uluslararası İliskiler Teorileri. Bursa: MKM Yayıncılık, 2013.
- Turhan, Kerime Cesur. “Vehhâbî Hareketinin Misyonu Hakkındaki Yaklasımlar ve Harekete Yoneltilen Elestirilere Verilen Cevaplar.” (Approches Regarding the Mission of the Wahhabi Movement and Answers Given to the Criticisms Directed to the Movement). Journal of Divinity Faculty of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University 16, (December 2016): 409–48. https://doi.org/10.32950/rteuifd.625445.
- Waltz, Kenneth. Uluslararası Politika Teorisi. Transleted by Osman S. Binatlı. Ankara: Phoenix Yayınevi, 2015.
- Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization 46, no. 2 (Spring 1992): 391-425. doi:10.1017/S0020818300027764
- Whittlesey, Derwent. “Haushofer: The Geopoliticians,” in Makers of Modern Strategy; Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler, edited by Edward Mead Earle, 226-265. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1944.
- Yesevi, Cagla Gul. “Uluslararası İliskiler Bilim Dalında Sosyal İnsacılık Yaklasımının İncelenmesi.” Electronic Journal of Political Science Studies 12, no. 2 (January 2021): 52-75.
Year 2023,
Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 15 - 43, 23.06.2023
Abstract
Bu makale, Suudizm'in, Bedevi/kabile kimliğinin, Vahhabizm'in, Suudi Arabistan'ın jeopolitiği ve rantier devlet kimliğinin dış politika belirleme süreci üzerindeki etkisini inşacı teori üzerinden analiz etmektedir. Sosyal inşacılık teorisi, sosyal kimliklerin ulusal çıkarları ve politikaları belirlediğini öne sürer. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Suudi Arabistan'ın kimliği içindeki anlamsal dönüşümleri ve çağdaş siyaset üzerindeki etkilerini, ülkenin jeopolitik konumunu ve sonuç olarak ortaya çıkan stratejik yönlerini analiz etmektir. Ayrıca, bir ulus devleti haline gelmesinden bu yana benimsediği politikalar, özellikle İslami kimliğiyle ilişkili olarak incelenir. Bahsedilen kimliklere çeşitli yaklaşımlar listelenerek, Suudi Arabistan'ın dış politikasının kapsamlı bir çerçevesi çizilir. Çalışma inşacılık teorisini kullanarak, Suudi kimliğini tanımlayan olay ve kavramların tarihsel ve jeopolitik durumunu analiz ederek, bu kimliklerin Suudi Arabistan'ın dış politikasını nasıl etkilediğini anlamaya yardımcı olmaktadır. Suudi Arabistan'ın kimlik oluşumu üzerine yapılan bu makale, inşacı teoriye dayalı olarak kolektif kimlik ve dış politika konularında önermeler geliştirerek Uluslararası İlişkiler teorilerine katkıda bulunur. Bu makalede Bölgesel Çalışmalar ile birleştirilen İnşacı teori, inşacılığın Uluslararası İlişkilerin farklı kimlikleri ve politikalarını daha etkili bir şekilde analiz etmesine imkan sağlayacaktır.
References
- Al-Fandy, Mamoun H. “State Islam and State Violence: The Case of Saudi Arabia.” PhD diss., Southern Illinois University, 1993.
- Al-Rasheed, Madawi. Kingdom without borders: Saudi Arabia’s political, religious and media frontiers. London: C. Hurst & Co Publishers, 2008.
- The History of Saudi Arabia. UK, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- Alharbi, Majed. “Reimagining the Ever-Changing Construct of Saudi Writerly Identity: A Heuristic Approach,” Arab World English Journal 11. no. 4 (December 2020): 254-71. doi: 10.24093/awej/vol11no4.17.
- Alpman, Polat S. “Sosyal Teorinin Konusu olarak Kimlik: sosyal İnşaacı Yaklaşım,” Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi 21, no. 2 (October, 2018): 1- 28. https://doi.org/10.18490/sosars.475804
- Akdogan, İsmail & Kalayci, Ridvan. “Suudi Arabistan’da İhyacı Hareketler Olarak Sahve ve Vehhabilik.” Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 1, no.1 (May, 2014): 157-86.
- Anthony, Giddens. Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford, CA.: Stanford University, 1991.
- Anton, Nakov & Nuno, Barrau. “Saudi, Arabia and the Oil Market,” The Economic Journal 123, no.12, (December 2013):1333-1362.
- Balaam, David & Diman, Bradford. Uluslararası Ekonomi Politiğe Giris. Transleted by Nasuh Uslu. Ankara: Adres Publishing, 2020.
- Baladas, Ghoshal. “Arabization Changing Face of Islam in Asia.” India Quarterly 66, no. 1 (2010): 69-89.
- Buzan, Barry and Ole, Wæver. Regions and Powers: The structure of international security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Cagatay, Neset. “Samîler-Araplar ve Guney Arabistan Devletleri.” Ankara Universitesi İlahiyat Fakultesi Dergisi IV, no. 3-4 (1957): 44-68.
- Checkel, Jeffrey, T. “The Constructivist Turn in International Relations Theory”, World Politics 50, no.2 (1998): 324–348.
- Cleveland, William L.& Bunton, Martim. A Modern History of the Middle East. New York: Routledge, 2016.
- Demirtas, Birgul. İnsacılık”, Uluslararası İliskilere Giris, edited by Saban Kardas ve Ali Balcı, 110-123. Kure Publishing, Istanbul, 2014.
- Domazeti, Riad. “Suudi Arabistan'da milli kimlik ve aidiyet inşa sürecinde vehhabiliğin etkisi.” Doctoral thesis, Marmara University, 2022.
- Even Shmuel & Guzansky Yoel, “Saudi Arabia and the Oil Prices.” Institute for National Security Studies, No. 1125, July 3, 2019, https://www.inss.org.il/publication/saudi-arabia-oil-prices-challenge/
- Freer, Courtney. “21st century Bedouin politics: Considering the modern power of tribes in the Arabian Peninsula.” Brookings, January 3, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/01/12/21st- century-bedouin-politics-considering-the-modern-power-of-tribes-in- the-arabian-peninsula/
- Ghaysuddin, M. The Impact of Nationalism on the Muslim World. London: Al-Hoda Publishers, 1986.
- Greenwood, Nicholas Onuf. World of Our Making: Rules and Rule in social Theory and international Relations. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1989.
- Gokcekuyu, Ertugrul. "An Analysis of Al-Djurjani’s Definition of Identity – huwiyya: The then and Now.” Alsuna: Journal of Arabic and English Language 4, no.2 (June 2022): 203-16.
- Heibach, Jens. “Public diplomacy and regional leadership struggles: the case of Saudi Arabia.” International Politics. Novemder 15, 2021. https:// link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-021-00310-7.
- Herb, Michael. “No Representation without Taxation? Rents, Development, and Democracy,” Comperative Politics 37, no. 3 (April 2005): 297-316.https://doi.org/10.2307/20072891
- Kelebek, Mustafa. “Ana Hatlarıyla Fıkıh Usulu.” İslam Medeniyeti Arastırmaları Dergisi (IMAD) 2, no 1. (December 2016): 139-44. Kucuk, Mustafa. “Uluslararası İliskiler Kuramında Konstruktivist Donusu Anlamak.” Ege Akademik Bakis 9, no. 2 (April 2009):771-795. DOI: 10.30903/Balkan.954293.
- Litvak, Meir. “Iran and Saudi Arabia: Report Title: Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, and the New Regional Landscape Begin.” edited by Joshua Teitelbaum, Mideast Security and Policy Studies no. 13, (Macca: Sadat Center for Strategic Studies Iran and Saudi Arabia: Religious and Strategy, 2017): 50-76.
- Maestri, Elena. “4. Saudi National Identity: Historical and Ideational Dimentions.” The Struggle to Define a Nation: Rethinking Religious Nationalism in the Contemporary Islamic World, edited by Marco Demichelis and Paolo Maggiolini, (Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, 2017): 95-122. https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463237257-006
- Maisel, Sebastian. “The New Rise of Tribalism in Saudi Arabia.” Nomadic Peoples 18, no. 2, (special issue: Reshaping Tribal Identities in the Contemporary Arab World 2014):100-122.
- McDowall, Angus. “Saudi tribalism lingers for kingdom’s settled Bedouin.” Reuters, May 8, 2012. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk- saudi-bedouin-idUKTRE80O19Y20120125
- Nevo, Joseph. “Religion and National Identity in Saudi Arabia.” Middle Eastern Studies 34, no.3 (July 1998): 34-53. doi: 10.1080/00263200802586105
- Nonneman, Gerd. Analyzing Middle East Foreign Policies and the Relationship with Europe. UK: Routledge, July 2005.
- Onuf, Nicholas. Making Sense, Making Worlds: Constructivism in Social Theory and International Relations. New York: Routledge, 2013.
- Ozdemir, Ahmet. “Determination and Evaluation of Major Practices Defined as Bid’at in Hanafi Fiqh Books.” Diyanet İlmi Dergi 5, no. 1 ( September 2021) 1 – 16.
- Ozoral, Basak. “Bedevi Asiret Yapısından Sehirli Modern Topluma Donusum Surecinde Dubai Orneği.” İbn Haldun Calısmaları Dergisi 3, no.1 (January15, 2018):117-32. https://doi.org/10.36657/ihcd.2018.39
- Oztop, Mustafa. “The Boomerang Effect of Mohammad Bin Salman in Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy.” Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 6, no.1 (April, 2019): 203-230.
- Patrick, Neil. Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy, Conflict and Cooperation. London; New York: I.B. Tauris, Bloomsbury Publishing: 2016.
- Reus-Smit Christian, “Constructivism.” Theories of International Relations, edited by Scott Burchill, Andrew Linklater, Richard Devetak, Jack Donnelly, Matthew Paterson, Christian Reus-Smit and Jacqui True, 194-211. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1996.
- Salzman, Philip Carl. “The Middle East’s Tribal DNA.” The Middle East Quarterly 15, no. 1, (2008): 23-33.
- Tawfiq, Al-Saif. “Relationship between state and religion in Saudi Arabia.” Contemporary Arab Affairs 6, no. 3 (July 2013):376-403. doi: 10.1080/17550912.2013.822721
- Tayyar, Ari. Uluslararası İliskiler Teorileri. Bursa: MKM Yayıncılık, 2013.
- Turhan, Kerime Cesur. “Vehhâbî Hareketinin Misyonu Hakkındaki Yaklasımlar ve Harekete Yoneltilen Elestirilere Verilen Cevaplar.” (Approches Regarding the Mission of the Wahhabi Movement and Answers Given to the Criticisms Directed to the Movement). Journal of Divinity Faculty of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University 16, (December 2016): 409–48. https://doi.org/10.32950/rteuifd.625445.
- Waltz, Kenneth. Uluslararası Politika Teorisi. Transleted by Osman S. Binatlı. Ankara: Phoenix Yayınevi, 2015.
- Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization 46, no. 2 (Spring 1992): 391-425. doi:10.1017/S0020818300027764
- Whittlesey, Derwent. “Haushofer: The Geopoliticians,” in Makers of Modern Strategy; Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler, edited by Edward Mead Earle, 226-265. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1944.
- Yesevi, Cagla Gul. “Uluslararası İliskiler Bilim Dalında Sosyal İnsacılık Yaklasımının İncelenmesi.” Electronic Journal of Political Science Studies 12, no. 2 (January 2021): 52-75.
There are 44 citations in total.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Political Science, International Relations |
| Journal Section | Makaleler |
| Authors | |
| Early Pub Date | June 23, 2023 |
| Publication Date | June 23, 2023 |
| Acceptance Date | May 16, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Volume: 10 Issue: 1 |
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