Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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which gave the United States access to the use of the Dhahran air base. With swift
response, the government issued the Royal Decree in 1956 which outlawed strikes of any
kind and promised imprisonment for participating citizens and deportation for foreigners.
Economically, the 1950s witnessed multiple financial crises. The national treasury
weakened following Aramco's decision to reduce its production due to falling worldwide
oil prices. A financial crisis in the country's one-crop oil economy ensued which translated
into major cuts in payments to contractors, non-payment to importers for imported goods,
and interruption and reduction of subsidies to tribal chiefs. The interruption of the
previously steady rise in income of the population, coupled with the increasing
moneytization of the economy, introduced the country to waves of inflation sending basic
commodity prices soaring sky-high as gold and foreign reserves sunk to their lowest level.
The Saudi currency, the Riyal, was devalued to half its value in the market thus raising the
public debt in early 1958 to an unprecedented 1.8 billion Riyal. These problems caught the
administration unprepared and caused commotion within the senior ranks of the royal
family. The crisis was resolved by delegating more responsibilities to. Crown Prince
Faisal, who was showing potency and shrewdness in his direction of progressive
government posts and ministries.
These dramatic developments signaled danger to the political stability of Saudi
Arabia, as questions over the Monarchy's legitimacy surfaced, especially by those who
were tuned to Egypt's Nasir, a well spoken demagogue who advocated Pan-Arab socialist
ideology which engaged popular sentiments in the Arab World. His preaching caught
desperate Arab followers in the political and intellectual vacuum that followed the departure
of colonial powers. Nasir called for Arab nationalism and abetted Arabs to revolt against
their monarchies which he perceived as anachronistic and obstacles to Arab unity. Such
pressures were reflected in domestic policy in the form of a vision of economic
development and administrative reform. Faisal introduced many reforms which, while they
successfully mollified the crisis and promised progressiveness, reinforced divisiveness
over the common goal of modernization under the nation-state.
A. The Ten-Point Reform Program of 1963
Saudi Arabia underwent dramatic changes in the general direction of modernization,
particularly during the 1950s and 1960s. Such changes were both spontaneous and