Saudi Youth: Policies and Practices

This edited collection aims at developing a more balanced understanding of the dilemmas, challenges and opportunities associated with youth policy formulation and implementation in Saudi Arabia, specifically in envisaging a post-COVID-19 Kingdom. It does so by considering the dilemmas, challenges and opportunities present in the contemporary Saudi sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural spheres, as well as ways and means by which these can be addressed. Underpinning this is a comprehension of the necessity in understanding ’policy relevance’ as related to youth policy formulation and implementation. With regards to Saudi youth policy relevance, relevant policy and decision makers want to be able to prioritize the most important issues. As such, policy and decision makers need ’direction’ in terms of policy formulation, policy recommendations and policy implementation - that is, they are often searching for ’policy relevance’. Furthermore, lessons can be learnt from previous youth policy initiatives by asking: Why was this policy successful? If this policy failed, what were the reasons? Did this policy resonate with young nationals? This book unpacks the ways in which ’policy relevance’ is particularly important for youth policy development and implementation in Saudi Arabia. It is relevant to policymakers, as well as scholars in Gulf Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies more broadly, as well as those in youth studies, area studies, and social studies.

Dr. Mark C. Thompson is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Socioeconomics Program at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS) in Riyadh. His principal research areas are Saudi socio-economic development and societal transformation, and he has published extensively on topics such as Saudi youth issues and social transformations in publications such as the British Journal of Middle East Studies, Journal of Arabian Studies, Asian Affairs, Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East Policy; POMPES Studies, Chatham House, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and Gulf Affairs. His books include ＂Saudi Arabia and the Path to Political Change: National Dialogue and Civil Society＂ (Bloomsbury IB Tauris, 2014) and ＂Being Young Male and Saudi: Identity and Politics in a Globalized Kingdom＂ (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Mark is also the co-editor with Dr. Neil Quilliam of ＂Policy-Making in the GCC: State, Citizens and Institutions＂ (Bloomsbury IB Tauris, 2017) and ＂Governance and Domestic Policy Making in Saudi Arabia: Transforming Society, Economics, Politics, and Culture＂ (Bloomsbury IB Tauris 2022).
Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He is Research Director at SRMG Think and an Associate Fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Neil headed the programme’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project, and, prior to that, was project director of the Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative. Neil also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman.

Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He is Research Director at SRMG Think and an Associate Fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Neil headed the programme’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project, and, prior to that, was project director of the Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative. Neil also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman.
Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He is Research Director at SRMG Think and an Associate Fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Neil headed the programme’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project, and, prior to that, was project director of the Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative. Neil also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman.
Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He is Research Director at SRMG Think and an Associate Fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Neil headed the programme’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project, and, prior to that, was project director of the Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative. Neil also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman.
Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He is Research Director at SRMG Think and an Associate Fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Neil headed the programme’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project, and, prior to that, was project director of the Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative. Neil also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman.
Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He is Research Director at SRMG Think and an Associate Fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Neil headed the programme’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project, and, prior to that, was project director of the Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative. Neil also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman.
Dr Neil Quilliam is an energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist, with extensive knowledge and experience of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He is Research Director at SRMG Think and an Associate Fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Neil headed the programme’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project, and, prior to that, was project director of the Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative. Neil also served as senior MENA energy adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), senior MENA analyst at Control Risks, London, and senior programme officer at the United Nations University, Amman.