Saudi Arabia Is an Arab Project from A to Z: American Historian Eugene Rogan
Eugene Rogan, an American historian and Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Oxford, has highlighted a significant aspect about the emergence of the Third Saudi State, i.e. the modern Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with Thaqafeyah channel, Professor Rogan presented modern Saudi Arabia as a distinctive model of an Arab State that emerged through indigenous efforts, independent of direct European colonial influence.
“When I teach the emergence of the Saudi State at Oxford University, I like to introduce Saudi Arabia’s history as an example of an Arab State that emerged without a European influence. What does the government look like in an Arab country not shaped by Britain or France,” he said.
“I always ask my students a question: what are the limits of British influence over the Saudi State? Basically, the answer is that the British influence was strictly limited to shaping and imposing borders, which is a pure European idea. There is a line in the sands that must be respected. It has custom and security implications. These borders must be respected,” he added.
“This idea was new to the Arab Peninsula; there were perceptions about lands and tribes acknowledge specific areas of influence. But the idea that a State has strict borders, secured by the army, and charges tariffs for goods and trade, these were all new ideas, and the British imposed that on the emergent Saudi State. But otherwise, it was an Arab project from A to Z,” Prof. Eugene Rogan noted.
