Introduction
Saudi Arabia is one of the most known countries among the Arab states of the middle east and northern Africa with extensive desserts as well as oil wells. The country is inhabited with nomads who herd camel, a kingdom of princes, religious authorise who are reactional, gender relation which severely redistricted and high rate of unemployment( Al-Rasheed,2010) . South Arabia has a historic background with united states of America where they provide the energy in terms of oil which the latter provides the muscle and protection from the enemy countries.
Religion prowess has seen them be worldly known for their strict rules and utter following of the religion laws( Al-Rasheed,2013) . Since the 19 th century, Saudi Arabia has seen itself having problems in their leadership, and the emirates sort to rise and establish a kingdom form of leadership where a prince is on top of the mantle. Despite it being rich in oil and religion, Saudi Arabia faces many challenges including insecurity where since 2003 terrorist campaigns led by Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula who were led by Osama bin laden who wanted a new front for Saudi Arabia.
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Education in this country has been faced with many challenges as most of the youth sort to engage themselves into religion rather than formal education which has resulted into reduced manpower in the professional industry in the country. Gender segregation has seen this country face much criticism all over the world since women are not given the freedom to work or uphold recent fashion which has resulted to a stunted growth in its economy as it is believed women play a major role in economy building.
National security was a major crisis in the country, as history records how the ottoman empire struggled in keeping the country as one piece. United states of America intervention saw the country advance in its military by providing both training and resources to expand its knowledge in warfare and armoury( Hegghammer,2008) . Saudi Arabia faces a lot of challenges up to date and this research paper sorts to identify this challenge and give possible solutions to this problem.
Literature Review
United stated of America has had an equation of oil-for -security with Saudi Arabia but this agreement seemed to seize with the rise of Al-Qaida retaliation and the Saudi Arabia sought to export its oil to other superpowers like china which meant they had to turn to other countries to seek military allies to shield itself against potential enemies like Iran. Ordering the U.S. Air force to seize using their Prince Sultan Air Base and turning to other countries like Europe to buy new warplanes showed the readiness of Saudi Arabia to depend on themselves and advance in their national security (Ottaway,2010).
Kechichian (2001), politics play a major role in a country economic growth. South Arabia does not have a firm way of leadership due to its leadership structure. Kingship is the major way of leadership in this country and princes are witnessed to be at the top of the realm controlling the country’s economic status. Oil being one of the top heritage of the country, and the main cause of civil wars, other ways of establishing a sound economy must be sort and implemented to ensure that a high GPA and living standards of its people.
Unemployment tends to paralyse a country as most of its manpower are idle and can engage in violence at any time. Saudi Arabia faces this challenge, where despite most of its young people are learned up to masters and degree level, the country does not have enough avenues to channel them and give them jobs. The countries only focus on Muslim education where people must know religion and live by it, instead of offering quality formal education which will produce professionals who will run the country’s economy. Saudi Arabia a country with the rare gift of oil, should come up with ways of creating job opportunities to its learned youths and enforce proper salaries and remunerations for capacity building in its citizens ( Niblock & Malik,2017)
Technology is power, and digitalisation is a technological advancement we cannot ignore. Through the trending personal computers there has been a lot of exchange in information through the internet. When a country locks out this information from its citizen, it does not only derail its economic growth but continues to allow its citizens to suffer from the problems they are used to in their day to day life without sorting solutions available all over the world. Saudi Arabia is one of the Arabs countries who have not upholder information freedom through the internet especially to the female child. Information and communication technology plays a vital role in the economic freedom of a country and Saudi Arabia should uphold this ( Hefner & Zaman,2007) .
Hamdan (2005), women’s position in the society is very vital. Saudi Arabia’s historical socio-economic and political environment are vital in understanding a woman’s position in their society. Saudi Arabia tends to seclude women from public life. Saudi Arabia has an impressing record of women graduating from universities in the humanities, but where do they end up? Saudi Arabia must do away either this historic believe and let women take part in the economy growth and be allowed to do any course in the university and any job offering available.
Arguments
Islamic Violence and Regime Stability
Wake of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, incidence of Osama bin laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers of September 11,2001 shook the national security of this country, Osama bin Laden wanted to forge a new Saudi Arabia but in turn turned the country to a war zone by blowing blows with countries like U.S.A. Stability in the regime of a country ensures the stability of the economy and its citizens. Efforts have been made by the Saudi Arabia country in ensuring this by breaking away from the U.S.A pact and buying military armouries to ensure its borders safety from bordering enemies.
Women and Education
Saudi Arabia is faced with women segregation where they are not allowed to the public life ( Lawson,2011) . Most of this woman have graduated from universities but are not allowed to practice what they learned instead they are held to homes while men dominate in jobs. The media has reported that only a handful of women are recorded to be working in the public sector. society retardation is shown here, allowing women only to hide in hijabs is wrong, they should be allowed to add to the economic growth of the country. Men cannot do all jobs, as a fact we know women perform bet in humanitarian job, they should be allowed to lend a hand.
Leadership in Economic Growth
Saudi Arabia historically has a leadership of princes since the ottoman rule which has recolonised to this age. When this kind of leadership is experienced in a country there tend to be a form of status quo where the top leadership only cares about their well-being and since the leadership is hereditary the wealth is still in the family. The leadership in Saudi Arabia must ensure that the citizens wellbeing is put first as this is democracy.
Youth and Unemployment
Higher rates of unemployment have been witnessed in Saudi Arabia where learned youths remain jobless. The government must innovate avenues where it will provide job openings to its youthful learned citizens. Youths who are idle tend to engage in criminal activities and this worsen the security system of a country, in Saudi Arabia many youths might have found themselves in Al-Qaida recruitment because of unemployment.
Technology and Information Freedom
Information freedom is a vital part of a growing economy. Large merchandises like amazon and e-bay sell their products through the internet and a country can garner a lot of taxes from purchases. Saudi Arabia with their strong believes in religion do not emphasize this freedom of information especially to female child. This renders the society to be behind in terms of innovation and advancement which is an enemy of economic growth of a country.
Discussion
Countries in the world faces many challenges but this does not mean there are no solution ( Lacroix,2011) . Every problem has a solution if enough research is done on a matter. As discussed above Saudi Arabia faces a lot of challenges which can be solved by bringing forth all stakeholders and putting the historic experiences behind.
Women empowerment is key to the growth of a nation. Saudi Arabia should adopt to empower women by giving them the freedom to work and choose a future for themselves. When they are not give a freedom to speak the tend to fold back and watch everything unfolds badly therefore they should be allowed to enter politics and public sector to offer their talents and should be given the freedom to education of their choosing.
Recently, Saudi Arabia has discovered natural gas which can be used up 100 years. Economically Saudi Arabia can reach a mile stone if various issues are looked upon, this includes managerial skills of this sectors, the policies surrounding this economic gainer, the infrastructure set for economic growth, other economic investments that can come up from their heavy reserves of oil and gas, and bring the public services closer to its citizens.
Employment is an economic factor which need close attention. Saudi Arabia must determine whether it is providing competitive labour with that of international labour rates and if appropriate to the levels of qualifications and training available in its population. Saudi Arabia should sort to increase its infrastructure including medical, manufacturing and business where its qualified population can work and earn a living. Foreign labour can make a countries people be unemployed and the government should come with polices which allows its citizens grab up to 90% of jobs available in the country.
Digital information is crucial for advancement and Saudi Arabia should come up with ways unto which they allow this information to its citizens. Digital information is accompanied with unpleasant like pornography, but this can be controlled if well laid policies are in place. Self-taught engineers, teachers and other fields mostly use this avenue to acquire knowledge to themselves and if not allowed part its citizens might remain illiterate. In conclusion, Saudi Arabia are not experiencing permanent problems with no solution, if proper strategies can be employed as shown above, the country can turn things around and their economy be envied by many.
References
Al-Rasheed, M. (2010). A history of Saudi Arabia . Cambridge University Press.
Al-Rasheed, M. (2013). A most masculine state: Gender, politics and religion in Saudi Arabia (Vol. 43). Cambridge University Press.
Hamdan, A. (2005). Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and achievements. International Education Journal , 6 (1), 42-64.
Hefner, R. W., & Zaman, M. Q. (Eds.). (2007). Schooling Islam: the culture and politics of modern Muslim education . Princeton University Press.
Hegghammer, T. (2008). Islamist violence and regime stability in Saudi Arabia. International Affairs , 84 (4), 701-715.
Kechichian, J. (Ed.). (2001). Succession in Saudi Arabia . Springer.
Lacroix, S. (2011). is Saudi Arabia immune? Journal of Democracy , 22 (4), 48-59.
Lawson, F. H. (2011). Keys to the kingdom: Current scholarship on Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Middle East Studies , 43 (4), 737-747.
Niblock, T., & Malik, M. (2007). The political economy of Saudi Arabia . Routledge.
Ottaway, D. B. (2010). The king's messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sultan and America's tangled relationship with Saudi Arabia . Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
