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Vision or Mirage
- Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
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Vision or Mirage
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Summary
Something extraordinary is happening in Saudi Arabia. A traditional, tribal society once known for its lack of tolerance is rapidly implementing significant economic and social reforms. An army of foreign consultants is rewriting the social contract, King Salman has cracked down hard on corruption, and his dynamic though inexperienced son, the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, is promoting a more tolerant Islam. But is all this a new vision for Saudi Arabia or merely a mirage likely to dissolve into Iranian-style revolution?
David Rundell - one of America's foremost experts on Saudi Arabia - explains how the country has been stable for so long, why it is less so today, and what is most likely to happen in the future. The book is based on the author's close contacts and intimate knowledge of the country where he spent 15 years living and working as a diplomat. Vision or Mirage demystifies one of the most powerful, but least understood, states in the Middle East and is essential for anyone interested in the power dynamics and politics of the Arab world.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jiri
- 29-03-24
Book for those who seeking to understand
Brilliantly written and approachable insights for non-KSA listeners like myself who seek to understand this fascinating country. We are still living in the world where Saudi Arabia is mostly unknown and never visited by majority of western people. However, success of neighbouring UAE demonstrates that changes in Middle East can happen faster than anywhere else. Same as Dubai transformed itself to one the most visited cities in the world KSA may become favourite destination of the future. Maybe it will be our kids that will go for dream vacations to Jeddah, Riyadh or NEOM. Who knows, this book is giving a good insight why KSA’s Vision 2030 can succeed on scale impossible anywhere in the world.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CorpusMobilis
- 19-01-24
excellent exposition
Perfect Arabic pronunciation, facts and history presented by a highly knowledgeable author. The work dates back to 2020
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- thoughtfuldiner
- 12-09-24
Partly historical work, partly puff piece
Rather comprehensive and well-organised picture of Saudi Arabia. Any non-specialist reader will learn a great deal about the historical development of Saudi Arabia, the characteristics and development of its ruling class, and the peculiarities of this country in the Islamic world.
On the other hand, in spite of the apparently detached and objective tone, the author tends to present an excessively rosy and acritical picture of the Kingdom and to sugar-coat its worst aspects. Emblematic and rather revolting in this respect is the treatment of the Jamal Khashoggi assassination. Rundell comes close to victim blaming, presenting him as a "traitor". True, he ascribes this view to the Saudis. But just imagine if the author of a book about the Mafia, wrote (after pages and pages of rosy descriptions of its successful organisational reforms and deal-making ability with other organisations) something like: "people don't understand the reason why the Boss had X brutally assassinated: in his eyes he was a traitor who back-stabbed the organisation that had helped him, and just while it was navigating a difficult period".
In sum, this book is permeated by a justificatory attitude, an implicit acceptance bordering on admiration for the practices, policies and statesmanship of Saudi leaders over a century. But let's not forget that at present the endpoint of decades of amazing governance and brilliant reforms is that what has always been an authoritarian, repressive and illiberal regime is still an authoritarian, repressive and illiberal regime that feels the need to launch yet another amazing series of reforms (Vision 2030) because, evidently, not all is well. This book is certainly worth a read as it contains useful information. But I confess that I have often been on the verge of suspecting ulterior motives for the author writing it.
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