Professor Madawi Al Rasheed

By Madawi Al-Rasheed

Globalisation refers to structured flows from above, which are led by government agencies, large corporations, and other powerful state and non-state actors.

Saudi Arabia was both an importer and an exporter of global flows, whose economic, religious and cultural flows are a product of oil wealth. Since the discovery of oil in 1933, Saudi Arabia has been integrated into the world capitalist economy. Oil drew Saudi Arabia into global flows which were mainly under the control of global actors, specifically states, oil companies, financial services groups, and other conglomerates.