The Ascent of Saudi Arabia to a Regional Hegemon: The Role of Institutional Power in the League of Arab States
| Date | 01 April 2020 |
| Published date | 01 April 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020881720911834 |
| Subject Matter | Research Articles |
The Ascent of Saudi
Arabia to a Regional
Hegemon: The Role of
Institutional Power in
the League of
Arab States
Maximilian Felsch1
Abstract
After the Arab upheavals that began in 2011, Saudi Arabia became the most
dominant power in the Arab world. While most of its Arab rivals experienced
political and economic crises and disintegration, the Gulf monarchy began an
unprecedented active and even interventionist foreign policy and increased its
regional influence tremendously. Remarkably, most of this activism was not
exercised unilaterally but within regional institutional frameworks, mainly of the
League of Arab States (LAS) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This
article investigates how Saudi Arabia gained institutional power within the LAS.
The analysis is based on the LAS decisions at the Summit level before and after
the Arab uprisings with regard to Saudi Arabia’s main foreign policy interests.
The purpose of the article is to examine the essence of Saudi Arabia’s regional
power. It also looks at the unforeseen revitalization of the LAS and allows
predictions of the future of Arab regionalism in a changing Arab world.
Keywords
League of Arab States, Arab League, Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Policy of Saudi
Arabia, Institutional Power, International Relations of the Middle East
Introduction
Much of the Arab world was or still is in turmoil since the Arab uprisings swept
through the region and disrupted a finely tuned regional balance of power. The
1 Political Science Department, Haigazian University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Corresponding author:
Maximilian Felsch, Associate Professor, Political Science Department, Haigazian University, Mexique
Street, Beirut 11072090, Lebanon.
E-mail: maximilian.felsch@haigazian.edu.lb
International Studies
57(2) 132–143, 2020
2020 Jawaharlal Nehru University
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DOI: 10.1177/0020881720911834
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