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King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud
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| Offices: King (1982-2005) | | | Born: 1923,
Riyadh (died August 1, 2005) | |
| Education: Studied Arab history
and literature at the royal court | | | Lineage: Son of
King Ibn Saud, member of the "Sudairi Seven" | | | Miscellaneous: Other than the principality of Lichtenstein, Saudi Arabia is the only nation named after a family. The adjective "Saudi" indicates something
belonging to the House of Saud. | | | Quote: "We were
faced with a financial crisis after the Kuwait war of liberation and
after the drop in oil prices ... We have succeeded in dealing with the
crisis and have had to bear its consequences ..." | |
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King Fahd ruled Saudi Arabia from 1982 until his death in 2005. He was the son
of King Ibn Saud, who unified the Arabian territories and founded the
modern nation of Saudi Arabia in 1932. One of nearly forty sons, King
Fahd was the fourth son of Ibn Saud to become king. He was also a member of the
royal family's powerful "Sudairi Seven" -- a group of brothers united
under the name of their mother, Hussa bint Ahmad Al-Sudairi.
After assuming power, King Fahd continued the rapid development of the
kingdom's infrastructure that was fueled by the oil boom of the 1970s.
During this time, the construction of new highways, airports,
universities, hospitals, and industrial complexes gave rise to gleaming
metropolises that dotted the nation's vast desert landscape. Spending
decreased rapidly, however, when oil prices crashed in 1986 and the
kingdom began a period marked by budget deficits. In matters of policy
and ideology, King Fahd was one of the most pro-Western of Saudi
Arabia’s rulers. During the Gulf War, the king allowed U.S. troops
to be based within Saudi Arabia's borders, a move that helped turn Osama
bin Laden decisively against the royal family. But King Fahd's Western
sympathies and his reportedly decadent lifestyle were
deemed inappropriate by some influential Muslim clerics. The resulting
social and political tensions served to undermine the royal family's
power base.
In matters of succession, the House of Saud has traditionally elevated
the eldest and most capable of Ibn Saud's sons to become king. But
in 1992 King Fahd issued an important royal decree that changed the
rules of succession to the throne. The edict gave the king power to
"choose" or "relieve" the crown prince, his designated heir, and also
opened up the line of succession to the grandsons of King Ibn Saud, the
so-called "second generation" princes. Though King Fahd’s
declaration raised speculation about intensified struggles for the
throne, his half-brother Abdullah assumed the duties of the
king's office without major incident after Fahd suffered a debilitating
stroke in 1995. Abdullah was offically named king after Fahd's death in early August, 2005.
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Photo Essay - Take a look
at the faces and places of Saudi Arabia
Interactive Map - Learn about
the Saudi oil industry and the world's dependence on such.
Info-Graphic -
Examine the numbers of Muslims in the World and in the West.
Debate: Islam and
Democracy Two scholars, Dr. Daniel Pipes and Dr. Muqtedar Khan
discuss the compatibility of Islam and democracy.
Interactive Map: Middle
East- Learn more about the politics, population and history of
Middle East countries.
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