ABSTRACT
Despite the rapid modernisation of Saudi Arabia its rulers managed to avoid the socio-political dislocations that often accompanied development in the Arab-Muslim world and in Third World countries in general. The Mecca rebellion in 1979, in which the rebels failed to win even support of their kinsmen, demonstrated that, in contrast to other Arab and Muslim countries, neo-fundamentalism in Saudi Arabia appeals only to peripheral elements. The rural population in Saudi Arabia, a major source of support for Al Saud (possibly with the exception of the Asiris), has rapidly declined in size in last two decades but it still comprises of about third of the population. The country’s enormous oil reserves and financial resources endowed Saudi Arabia with power and influence in Arab and Muslim camps and in the international arena out of proportion to its size and level of development. Saudi Arabia demonstrated its solidarity with its Arab and Muslim sister countries by supporting them financially and politically.
