ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses Saudi Arabia’s counter-radicalization and rehabilitation policies as they have evolved since the early 1990s, in particular in the context of the internal challenges the kingdom has faced since its establishment in the 1930s. It looks at the roots of Wahhabism and the evolution of its relationship with the rulers of the country. The chapter examines the main challenges that the State faced internally and externally before 1990 and how it managed to overcome them. It describes the rise of the Islamic radical right in the 1990s and the State’s response, examining a significant early process of deradicalization among a large number of radical Islamists, a process which had considerable influence over the design of subsequent programmes. The chapter focuses on the counter-radicalization, rehabilitation and aftercare programme and considers the difficulties of measuring its success. The sudden large spike in oil prices in the early 1970s brought unprecedented wealth to the kingdom.
