Ian Black was the Guardian's Middle East editor, European editor, diplomatic editor and foreign leader writer in 36 years on the paper. He is now a visiting senior fellow at the Middle East Centre, LSE. His latest book is Enemies and Neighbors: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017.At the Guardian, Black tagged five books to understand Saudi Arabia, including:
Understanding Saudi Arabia has never been easy: leaks, rumours and official denials surrounding the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are a grim reminder of a notoriously opaque system. Historian Madawi al-RasheedRead about another entry on the list.(herself the scion of a powerful dynasty that lost out to the Al-Saud in the formative years of the 1920s) provides a focused and up-to-date political and social guide as the editor of Salman’s Legacy: The Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia. The promotion of the king’s ambitious son, Mohammed (MBS), to crown prince in June 2017 proves that “the survival and mystique of the monarchy are closely linked to its unpredictability,” she writes, noting the taboo on public discussion of royal struggles and intrigues.
--Marshal Zeringue
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