Managing Savagery in Saudi Arabia
In the past six months, Saudi Arabia has arrested around 700 suspected terrorists. Yesterday, the Interior Ministry released a statement which claimed that many of those arrested were trying to implement the blueprint laid out by Abu Bakr Naji in his Management of Savagery. Naji argues that if Jihadis want to take power, they need to abandon the idea of overthrowing governments in the Middle East. Instead, they should focus on creating security vacuums. They can do this by striking a country’s crucial industries, like oil and tourism. The government will respond by pulling in its security forces to protect the infrastructure. This will open up the desired security vacuums (“regions of savagery” as he calls them) that Jihadis can move into and set up rudimentary governments. These vacuums can be as small as city blocks or as large as a province. Once they have gained control, the Jihadis can
