Crises of Saudi regime between Continuity and Change

Summary

Since the launch of Vision 2030 more than three years ago, controversy has escalated over the fate of the “transitional phase” that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is going through. While some argue that the transitional phase will end with implementation of Vision 2030 despite the difficulties and challenges facing it, which means success in formulating “public policies” on sound foundations, leading to the solution / reduction of crises in the country. However, others argue that Vision 2030 is not qualitatively new for the overall policy-making process in Saudi Arabia, that remains governed by a set of structural determinants / constraints, which in turn reflects the regime crises, whether inherited from previous eras or emerging during the reign of King Salman.

In this context, the study attempts to answer a major question: How did the Saudi regime’s crises affect public policy making during the reign of Salman bin Abdul Aziz, especially after his son Mohammad took over as Crown Prince in mid-2017?

Thus, the crises of the Saudi regime are considered the independent variable in this study, while the policy making process is considered the dependent variable.