A common assumption in contemporary scholarship has been that the Saudi state is primarily a construct of the twentieth century, thanks to the discovery of abundant oil wealth in the Kingdom’s eastern provinces in the late 1930s. This presentation argues that although oil has been an important factor for state expansion over the pasteighty years, much of the institutional foundation legitimating the modern state was established much earlier in the eighteenth century via the securitisation of identity by Central Arabian power holders. While the use of Rentier largesse remains a key method of control for Saudi state elites today, it exists alongside the far older strategy of instrumental insecurity, a dynamic that has important implications for the future of the Kingdom, both domestically and internationally.

Ben Rich is a PhD candidate at Monash University where he has also lectured in politics and international relations from 2011 to the present. In 2013 he worked for three months in New York at the United Nations in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations as an analyst of conflicts in Syria, Mali and Somalia. In 2010 Ben worked in East Timor with the Alola foundation helping to train local primary and secondary teachers in pedagogical methods. He has published articles for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; The Conversation; as well as journal articles such as “Gulf War 4.0: Iran, Saudi Arabia and the complexification of the Persian Gulf equation”, Journal of Islam and Muslim Christian relations, Q4 2012; and “The Impact of Jihadist Foreign Fighters on Indigenous Secular-Nationalist Causes: Contrasting Chechnya and Syria”, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Q1 2015. Ben is a regular commentator in the national media on contemporary issues relating to Middle East politics and terrorism.

A3 theatre, Arts Building
followed by morning tea
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Enquiries to: Karin von Strokirch – kvonstro@une.edu.au