Saudi Culture
Saudi
Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, the
religion of Muslims and the abode of two holy shrines of Muslims, namely the
Mecca and Medina is none other than Saudi Arabia. The modern Saudi state was set up in the year
1932 by Abd Al-Aziz bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud) as a follow-up of
three decade long campaign for unifying majority of the territories which were
part of the Arabian Peninsula. “A male descendent of Ibn Saud, his son
Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz, rules the country today as required by the country's
1992 Basic Law (Global EDGE).”
After Iraq, in the year 1990, invaded Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
welcomed Kuwait’s royal family into its territory thereby allowing roughly 400,
000 immigrants into the land of Saudi Arabia and also paving way for the Western
and Arab troops to deploy within its
territory which led to Kuwait attaining independence. Untill the year
2003 when all the US troops left the Saudi Arabian territory, immense amounts
of tension prevailed amid the royal family along with the general public, the
presence of troops within the nation being the source of such tension.
King Abdullah has sustained the This program is which he started when he was prince of the
country. For promoting increased political involvement, the government
held elections at a national level in 2005 for 50% of the total members out of
the total 179 municipal committees that exist in the country. Towards the
end of 2005, King Abdullah concluded the above process by engaging the left-over
associates of the consultative municipal councils. The king also
established an Inter-Faith Dialogue proposal in the year 2008 with an objective
to inspire spiritual acceptance globally; in the month of February 2009, he
restructured the cabinet, which resulted in increased number of moderates
holding administrative and legal positions, and also employed the first female
to the nation’s cabinet.
Since the evolution of its contemporary history, Saudi Arabia
has been one of Middle East’s open and liberal economies which has profited and
comprehensively flourished from free trade and extensive movement of goods,
services, funds, and human resources (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency).
Therefore, this particular region of the Middle East has played a very
significant role in sustaining international efforts towards making the region
a more globalized and closely knit world economy.
Saudi Arabian Families
Due to the small population of ethnic Arabs in Saudi Arabia,
extremist policies towards nationality and citizen rights have been created out
of fear generated after the Gulf War. Saudi Arabian culture is persistent
and conformist due to the traditional beliefs and values of its peoples. These
traditional values are engrained within the teachings of the Islamic religion.
This lack of religious tolerance creates a barrier between Arabs and other
ethnic groups. Furthermore, only Arabs are permitted to attain governmental
posts, which are systematically denied to foreigners who are citizens of the
nation. This segregation persists in relation to property and businesses, which
heavily restricts foreign influence (Advameg Inc.,).
Saudi Arabian society comprises of five different levels which
are essentially defined by affluence. The first and the top most level
comprises of people belonging to the constitutional domain, with the leader
called the Sheikh. Then is the ruling family who are relations who are children
of prosperous traders of Saudi Arabia. The third level comprises of descendants
of the Bedouins, or nomads of the desert, who got settled in Saudi Arabia at
the time of the evolution of the oil industry. The fourth level of families
comprises of Arabs from other surrounding countries, and lastly, the fifth
level consists of immigrants. Each level of family preserves the strong
connections, which preserves the social structure by instead of beside the
state legislation limiting property ownership, schooling, healthcare,
matrimonial, housing, as well as social rights (Advameg Inc.,).
In the Arab world, one main issue is that of family business.
Since family businesses are private companies, they are not required to provide
financial statements, alleviate investor concerns or abide by the governmental
rules and regulations for their form of business. Nevertheless, in order to
increase trade internationally, family-owned businesses must open their
financial statements and capital to foreign companies and investors. With more
children of family business owners retaining education degrees, the
modernization of family-owned businesses in Saudi Arabia is inevitable (Euromoney).
However, there have been many instances where family owned businesses were not
very successful in their succession planning and hence not prospering.
Arabic is the national and most commonly
spoken language in Saudi Arabia and also most of immigrants of Saudi Arabia. “Classical
Arabic ( fusha ) in its Koranic, high literary, and modern standard
forms is used for prayers and religious rituals, poetry, lectures, speeches,
broadcasts, written communications, and other formal purposes.
Conversationally, people use colloquial Arabic (amiya)” (Advameg
Inc.,).
There are many more sub-dialects and interior variants. English is the next
popular second language.The population of
Saudi Arabia is broadly a minority in the nation itself. The distress that has
reaped from this damage of power and supremacy, aggregated by the unstable
relationship of the country with the surrounding nations like Iraq, has
resulted in radical policies and measures concerning the declaration of
nationality and the privileges for the population of the country.
Etiquette and
Food
Saudi Arabians, like all other Arab populations, have a varied
set of personal boundaries when compared to Westerners. Usually, they sit,
talk, and stand close to each other. It is general for people of the same sex
to touch each other during their communications as an expression of their
alliance, and men often shake hands upon welcome and exit. Communally, physical
contact between members of the opposite sex is unacceptable. To the people of
Saudi Arabia, respect, status, and esteem are principal concerns.
The
traditional staple foods of the entire including Saudi Arabia were dates; meat,
cow's milk, and camel; along with dairy products like ghee, cheese, among
others; bread and other pulses, and spices. A majority of aged people recollect
meals of the ancient times as being extremely simple but sufficient, without
wasting even a morsel of food (Advameg Inc.,). They frequently consumed at home
and begun their day with a breakfast that included coffee and a handful of
dates as soon as they complete their dawn prayer. “A meal of dates, milk
and/or milk products, and bread was served at midmorning. The last and main
meal often was taken before the sunset prayer and consisted of a hot
grain-based dish, vegetables among sedentary people in oases, milk among the
nomadic Bedouin, rarely some meat, and dates (Advameg Inc.,)”.
Meals, in this contemporary era, are
consumed a little later, and the foodstuffs are more abundant and
extravagant. Unlike the ancient times, foods like dates, cereal-based
foods, and milk products are less popular in the modern times. Rice has become
universally accepted and consumed food, and chicken very usual. Arabic coffee
which is lightly roasted without adding sugar but rather made a little spicy by
adding cardamom is the national beverage of Saudi Arabia. In addition to
this, tea is also quite popular.
Image of Saudi Arabia
In a nutshell, the economy of Saudi Arabia and the various
developments that had taken place post the advent of globalization are based
upon the World-polity theory in relation to globalization. As already
discussed, any system according to the above theory aims for the creation of
value by way of abdication of authority in a cooperative method and this is the
kind of system that has evolved in the land of Saudi Arabia post
globalization. All the various developments in the variety of industrial
sectors of Saudi Arabia that have been discussed above are undeniably a result
of globalization. There have been no instances of negative impact of
globalization on the Saudi Arabian economy from the extensive research that has
been carried out. This success is obviously evident from
the various developments in plethora of sectors of the Saudi Arabian economy
which were presented already. From the various points and discussions
that have been presented above, it can be concluded that Saudi Arabia is
undoubtedly emerging as a global leader and a major player in the Middle
East. The economic, social and political developments that have been
taking place in the country since the year 1970 have been extremely remarkable
and also been on par with international standards.
Since
the evolution of its contemporary history, Saudi Arabia has been one of Middle
East’s open and liberal economies which has profited and comprehensively
flourished from free trade and extensive movement of goods, services, funds and
human resources[1](Saudi
Arabian Monetary Agency). Therefore, this particular region of the Middle
East has played a very significant role in sustaining international efforts
towards making the region a more globalized and closely knit world economy. In
addition, during this period Saudi Arabia has identified the significance of
institution building in order to make sure that the country can
[1] Saudi
Arabian Monetary Agency. "G20 Case Study: Saudi Arabia." 10 September
2003. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. 03 June 2010 <http://www.banxico.gob.mx/tipo/publicaciones/seminarios/XIII-Saudi%20Arabia.pdf>.
build up an economy
which is based on well-built and well-established rudiments which can allow
most advantageous participation in the global market arena and also simultaneously
help the country confront the challenges of recession and fluctuations in the
global economy (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency). If the economy of the
country is noticed, apart from the banking sector and other economic sectors,
the health sector plays an important role in the development phase of Saudi
Arabia. One more main sector that is vital in the nation is the
healthcare. This particular industry draws the attention of huge number of
investors irrespective of the rush that the country’s government hospitals
face.
Works
Cited
Advameg Inc.,. Culture of Saudi Arabia. 2010.
Advameg Inc.,. 07 December 2013
<http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Saudi-Arabia.html>.
—
. Culture of Saudi Arabia. 2010. Advameg Inc.,. 07
December 2013 <http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Saudi-Arabia.html>.
Euromoney. "Arab family business on the brink of
change." Euromoney 2007.
Global EDGE. Saudi Arabia: Introduction. 2010.
global EDGE. 11 April 2011
<http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/saudi-arabia/>.
Prasad, Dr. Hari. Dealing with Cancer - more than just
medicine DR. Keerti B. 29 November 2009.
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. "G20 Case Study: Saudi
Arabia." 10 September 2003.Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. 07
December 2013 <http://www.banxico.gob.mx/tipo/publicaciones/seminarios/XIII-Saudi%20Arabia.pdf>.
—. "G20 Case Study: Saudi Arabia." 10 September
2003. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. 07
December 2013
<http://www.banxico.gob.mx/tipo/publicaciones/seminarios/XIII-Saudi%20Arabia.pdf>.
—. "G20 Case Study: Saudi Arabia." 10
September 2003. Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. 11 April 2011
<http://www.banxico.gob.mx/tipo/publicaciones/seminarios/XIII-Saudi%20Arabia.pdf>
