Saudi Arabia: Making Sense of the Khashoggi Murder by Paul Aarts

On 2 October 2018, prominent writer and Saudi-Arabia critic Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Turkey. The events following his disappearance have unfolded right before our eyes in the past weeks, and whilst it is almost certain the journalist was murdered in the consulate, many people are left with questions. Why did Saudi-Arabia do this? Who is responsible for the murder, and what will be the repercussions? 

On 19 November, we will explore the Kingdom Of Saudi-Arabia; its history, its politics, and its leaders. Without this proper context, it would be impossible to dissect the Khashoggi Case properly. We will be joined by Paul Aarts to talk to us about this subject. 

Paul Aarts has been a senior lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Political Science (University of Amsterdam). He mainly worked in the field of Middle East politics. He developed the ‘Zeytun Academic Exchange’ program with academic institutes in several Middle Eastern countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Morocco. He mainly writes on the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia in particular. His latest publication is Saudi Arabia. A Kingdom in Peril, with Carolien Roelants (Hurst 2015). This title is also available in Dutch, Arabic, and Persian.