Can women`s rights be realized in a religiously conservative, non-liberal country such as Saudi Arabia? Viewed by many as THE leading Muslim nation in the Arab world, this oil rich kingdom is also well known to be friendly with the United States as well as other western countries. And also for creating and upholding some of the most conservative Sharia-based laws against its people, and especially against its women. Nevertheless, in the past few years women in Saudi Arabia have taken careful but courageous steps into public space, and an increasing number of Saudi women are now graduating and taking jobs abroad. How can women in Saudi Arabia strengthen their rights, and what are the most significant challenges they face in this process? How can the world community and especially western-liberal actors, states and organizations support this development instead of becoming an obstacle?All over the world women are faced with discriminatory power structures. A common contemporary view is that these power structures are at their strongest and most oppressive in Muslim countries and communities. Islam and Muslims are being demonized in the western part of the world. Violations against human rights and against women do take place in Muslim societies. Women in Saudi Arabia are in many ways being treated as lesser because of their gender. But is Islam really the main antagonist in this respect? I believe not. And I also believe it is important to challenge this much held view in order to make way for a fruitful discussion on how to empower women within the current normative frames of their societies and religion.Chandra Talpade Mohanty`s critique on “white” western-oriented feminism and Abdullahi Ahmed An Naʹim`s cross cultural perspectives on human rights and how to present these to the Muslim world in order for them to earn a permanent residence there along with Asifa Quraishi-Landes critical analysis of the way that western actors, states and organizations engage themselves in human rights violations taking place in Muslim societies will provide my theoretical background for this paper. Their perspectives will help design and present a more nuanced view on the possibilities and challenges facing the realization of women`s rights in a patriarchal society such as Saudi Arabia.Change is always possible. However, in order for a society to change its type if governance, its political power structure and its long held cultural and religious views and traditions it cannot simply be told by someone else that change is needed. Fundamental change of such vital factors has to happen from within the society itself. And the leading actors in this process will depend on its peoples support and the right kind of support from the outside world.

Bakgrund: Saudiarabien har enligt statistik från WHO bland de lägsta suicidtalen i världen samtidigt som den saudiska regeringen misstänks underrapportera suicidtalen då detta är ett tabubelagt ämne. Det förekommer få vetenskapliga saudiska studier inom ämnet och massmedia övervakas av den saudiska regeringen. Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka huruvida och i vilken utsträckning suicid speglas av saudiska suicidstudier och saudisk massmedia samt om speglingen mellan suicidstudierna och massmedia skiljer sig åt. Syftet gällde även att undersöka hur saudisk massmedia rapporterar om inhemska suicid utifrån den sociala representationsteorins förankrings- och objektifieringsbegrepp. Även en hypotes om underrapportering av suiciddata i saudiska suicidstudier och inom saudisk massmedia prövades. Material och Metoder: De saudiska suicidstudierna som framkommit genom en databassökning sammanställdes för att kunna beräkna suicidtalen. Sedan utfördes en sökning efter suicidrelaterade artiklar på saudiska tidningars hemsidor. Därefter gjordes en medieanalys enligt social representationsteori på de suicidrelaterade artiklar som publicerats på tidningen al-Hayats hemsida. Resultat: Bilden av suicid skiljer sig åt mellan saudisk massmedia och saudiska suicidstudier gällande antalet årliga suicid och könsfördelningen. Saudisk massmedia, i form av al-Hayat, målar upp suicidfenomenet som något skrämmande som främst drabbar utländska gästarbetare. Al-Hayat lyfter visserligen olika nyanser av suicid, men undviker att rapportera om aktuella suicidfall bland saudiska medborgare. De saudiska suicidstudierna ter sig rimliga avseende könsuppdelning, suicidmetoder och åldersspann, men inte avseende antalet årliga suicid och antalet saudiska medborgare kontra gästarbetare som suiciderar. Slutsats: Skillnader i suicidrapporteringen mellan saudiska suicidstudier och saudisk massmedia förekommer. Saudisk massmedia beskriver suicid som något skrämmande och rapporterar inte om aktuella suicid bland saudiska medborgare. Saudiska suicidstudier ter sig underrapportera antalet årliga suicid i landet. / Introduction: Saudi Arabia has according to statistics from WHO one of the lowest suicide numbers in the world. At the same time the Saudi government is suspected to report too low suicide numbers since suicide is a social stigma. There are few scientific studies on the subject and the media is constantly being monitored by the Saudi government. Aims: The aims were to examine whether and to what extent suicide is reflected by Saudi suicide studies and Saudi media and if there are any differences between Saudi suicide studies and Saudi media in this regard. The aim was also to examine how Saudi media reports about domestic suicides according to notions of anchoring and objectification of social representation theory. Also a hypothesis of under reporting of suicide data in Saudi suicide studies and Saudi media was tested. Material and Methods: The Saudi suicide studies, which were found through a database search, were compiled in order to calculate the suicide numbers. After that, a search for suicide related articles on the homepages of Saudi newspapers was conducted. Thereafter, an analysis of social representation theory was conducted for the suicide related articles which were published on the homepage of the newspaper al-Hayat. Results: The picture of suicide differs between the Saudi media and the Saudi suicide studies regarding the number of yearly suicides and the distribution between genders. The Saudi media, in form of al-Hayat, describes the suicide phenomenon as something frightening that mainly affects guest workers. Al-Hayat does put forward different aspects of suicide, but holds off from reporting of current suicide cases of Saudi citizens. The Saudi suicide studies seem reasonable regarding the distribution of genders, the methods of suicide and the age range, but not regarding the number of yearly suicides and the number of Saudi citizens versus guest workers who commit suicide. Conclusions: There are differences in the reporting of suicides between Saudi suicide studies and Saudi media. The Saudi media describes suicide as something frightening and does not report of current suicides among Saudi citizens. Saudi suicide studies seem to under report the number of yearly suicides in the country.

How is Sweden manageing the conflict between exporting weapons to SaudiArabia and being a bearer of human rights?  Based on an updated restricted regulation when it comes to armsexport, Sweden seems to value human rights more than the finacial benefits that comes with exporting weapons.  Using ideals and interests as described by Goldmann, Coetzee and Ikegami, an analysis is made to measure to what extent the Swedish Government values human rights over economy.

The Swedish arms export has been criticized and heavily covered by the media for many years. The criticism that has often been highlighted concerns an outrage that Sweden exports weapons to autocratic countries. The Swedish arms export has been developing through the years which has led to Sweden being one of the largest arms exports in the world. This has contributed to Sweden gaining a very special position in the world of arms export, where Sweden is a sought-after actor. This study examines why Sweden chooses to export weapons to Saudi Arabia, which is an autocratically ranked country. The investigation is conducted from the perspective of realism. The study aims to provide detailed explanations based on different perspectives within the theoretical framework of realism such as international anarchism, national interest, self interest and balance of power about why Sweden has extensive arms exports to Saudi Arabia. The study shows that even though the Swedish arms export to Saudi Arabia is a paradox with the Swedish ideal, it is inevitable and must be carried out primarily because Sweden, like every nation in the world, must fight for its security and survival.

Saudi Arabia has been accused of sportswashing, an attempt to improve its reputation through buying the English football club Newcastle United. The purpose of this paper is to explore through a discourse analysis how Saudi Arabia's action to acquire Newcastle United can be seen as an exercise of power, and whether and how the images presented construct and reinforce orientalist discourses about the Saudi state and the region. The discourse analysis is conducted using Laclau and Mouffe's methodology and the theoretical framework applied is Joseph Nye's soft power, Edward Said's Orientalism and hegemony. Based on the international newspaper The Guardian and the human rights organization Amnesty International, orientalist discourses have been identified and the purchase of Newcastle United has resulted in soft disempowerment effects for Saudi Arabia. Local newspaper The Chronicle also constructed orientalist discourses about the state of Saudi Arabia but legitimizes the purchase of Newcastle United making the soft power exercise successful.

Saudi Arabia has been accused of sportswashing, which involves attempting to enhance its reputation by acquiring the English football club, Newcastle United. This study aims to conduct a framing analysis to explore how Saudi Arabia’s acquisition of Newcastle United can be perceived as an exercise of soft power and how the portrayed images in media construct and reinforce orientalist and eurocentric perspectives about Saudi Arabia and the region. This study analyzes the coverage from the media outlets The Guardian, Dagens Nyheter and the Saudi-based Al Arabiya. It focuses on how the media shapes and presents the image of Saudi Arabia in connection with the acquisition of Newcastle United and to what extent orientalist representations are reflected. Furthermore, the study’s findings indicate that orientalist depictions are identified to a certain extent, particularly in the coverage from The Guardian and Dagens Nyheter. The acquisition of Newcastle United has also resulted in increased soft power effects for Saudi Arabia, where the Saudi-newspaper Al Arabiya constructs a more positive narrative around acquisition of the football club, which can impact both local and global perceptions of the event.

Football is the world's most practiced sport. Historically, countries worldwide have employed the positive attributes of sports as a means of propaganda to present a more favorable image of their nation to a global audience. Recently, countries such as Russia, China, Qatar, and now Saudi Arabia have been accused of sportswashing. Football star Cristiano Ronaldo became the first to depart from European elite football and move to the untested Saudi Professional League, with several elite European players following suit. In 2023, voices emerged, accusing Saudi Arabia of sportswashing and questioning the underlying motives. Research acknowledges the prevalence of sportswashing in contemporary times, yet there is a dearth of studies examining sports journalism's coverage of it. This thesis explores how the sports journalists of Swedish Expressen and Saudi Arab News cover the substantial investments in the Saudi Professional League. The empirical material comprises a total of 20 articles, evenly sourced from respective news outlets. These articles underwent a comparative qualitative text analysis. Given Saudi Arabia's geographical location within the historical Orient, it is pertinent to analyze how Western sports journalism reports on football in Saudi Arabia through the theoretical lenses of orientalism and eurocentrism. Furthermore, the study explores how Saudi sports journalism legitimizes itself through the perspectives of occidentalism and ethnocentrism. The study's findings reveal that Expressen incorporates elements of both orientalism and eurocentrism in their articles. In response to European football leaking top footballers to Saudi Arabia, Expressen resorts to both orientalist and eurocentric criticism in its arguments. In an attempt to reaffirm European superiority and diminish the emerging influence of Saudi Arabia. Conversely, Arab News predominantly employs ethnocentric arguments to position Saudi Arabia among the absolute global elite without substantial scrutiny. / Fotboll är världens mest utövade sport. Historiskt har länder världen över nyttjat sportens positiva egenskaper som ett propagandaverktyg för att ge omvärlden en bättre bild av landet. I absolut närtid är Ryssland, Kina, Qatar och nu senast Saudiarabien exempel på länder som anklagats för sporttvätt. Cristiano Ronaldo tillsammans med flera av Europas elitspelare har lämnat den europeiska fotbollen för den obeprövade Saudi Professional League. Under 2023 höjdes röster världen över som anklagade Saudiarabien för sporttvätt och ifrågasatte motiven bakom spelarnas flyttar. Forskning visar att sporttvätt i modern tid är ett faktum, men det saknas studier om sportjournalistikens rapportering om dessa länder. Denna studie undersöker hur sportjournalisterna hos svenska Expressens respektive saudiska Arab News rapporterar om de omfattande satsningarna på den saudiska fotbollsligan. Det genom en kvalitativ jämförande textanalys med teoretiska verktyg från representationsteorin, orientalismen, eurocentrismen, occidentalismen samt etnocentrismen för att synliggöra historiska dolda värderingar, kritiska mot Saudiarabien respektive Västerlandet. Eftersom Saudiarabien geografiskt är en del av den historiska Orienten är det relevant att analysera hur västerländsk sportjournalistik rapporterar om saudisk fotboll. Samt i relation hur saudiska sportjournalister legitimerar Saudiarabien. Studiens empiriska material består av totalt 20 artiklar, lika många från respektive tidning. Resultatet visar att Expressen i respons till att den europeiska elitfotbollen läcker toppspelare till Saudiarabien använder både orientalistisk och eurocentrisk kritik i sin argumentation. Det görs för att bekräfta den europeiska överhögheten och förminska uppstickaren Saudiarabien. Arab News å andra sidan använder främst etnocentriska argument för att positionera Saudiarabien bland den absoluta världseliten utan någon egentlig prövning.

<p>Our increasingly globalized world has contributed to that more Swedish companies has expanded their business to more distant areas. One of these Swedish companies that now stands before their first international expansion is the Swedish fast-food chain Max AB. Max has chosen to start their expansion in Saudi Arabia, a country far away from Sweden, not only in terms of geographical distance but also in cultural. The cultural differences that Max will encounter may affect the business and result in to various adaptations that must be done in order to establish successfully. The thesis investigates the existing circumstances for the fastfood business in Saudi Arabia and shows which adaptations international fast-food chains should or must do as a result of the cultural distances they encounter. Subsequently there will be an exposition of which adaptations Max will accomplish in their concept with their establishment in Saudi Arabia. The investigation method that has been used is qualitative interviews. The interviews were with Max’ franchise manager and former marketing director for McDonald’s in the Middle Eastern region. The outcome of our investigation shows clear cultural differences and that fast-food chains have to conduct themselves and adapt to these differences in order to establish successfully.</p><p>Key words: Fast-food business, Max AB, McDonald’s, Saudi Arabia, psychic distance, culture, adaptations</p> / <p>Vår allt mer globaliserade värld har medfört att alltfler svenska företag internationaliserar sin verksamhet till mer avlägsna områden. Ett av dessa svenska företag som nu står inför sin första utlandsexpansion är den svenska snabbmatskedjan Max AB. Max har valt att börja sin expansion i Saudiarabien, ett land långt ifrån Sverige, inte bara i termer av geografiskt avstånd utan även kulturellt avstånd. De kulturella skillnaderna som Max möter kan komma att påverka verksamheten och leda till att vissa anpassningar måste genomföras för en framgångsrik etablering. Uppsatsen undersöker det rådande förhållandet för snabbmatsbranschen i Saudiarabien och visar vilka anpassningar internationella snabbmatskedjor bör eller måste göra på grund av de kulturella skillnaderna de möter. Härefter följer en genomgång av vilka anpassningar Max kommer att göra i sitt koncept vid sin etablering i Saudiarabien. Den undersökningsmetod som har använts är kvalitativa intervjuer. En intervju med Max expansionschef samt tidigare marknadschef för McDonald’s i regionen mellanöstern har företagits. Resultatet från undersökningen visar på tydliga kulturella skillnader och att snabbmatskedjor måste förhålla sig och anpassa sig till dessa för genomförandet av en framgångsrik etablering.</p><p>Nyckelord: Snabbmatsbranschen, Max AB, McDonald’s, Saudiarabien, psychic distance, kultur, anpassningar</p>

Our increasingly globalized world has contributed to that more Swedish companies has expanded their business to more distant areas. One of these Swedish companies that now stands before their first international expansion is the Swedish fast-food chain Max AB. Max has chosen to start their expansion in Saudi Arabia, a country far away from Sweden, not only in terms of geographical distance but also in cultural. The cultural differences that Max will encounter may affect the business and result in to various adaptations that must be done in order to establish successfully. The thesis investigates the existing circumstances for the fastfood business in Saudi Arabia and shows which adaptations international fast-food chains should or must do as a result of the cultural distances they encounter. Subsequently there will be an exposition of which adaptations Max will accomplish in their concept with their establishment in Saudi Arabia. The investigation method that has been used is qualitative interviews. The interviews were with Max’ franchise manager and former marketing director for McDonald’s in the Middle Eastern region. The outcome of our investigation shows clear cultural differences and that fast-food chains have to conduct themselves and adapt to these differences in order to establish successfully. Key words: Fast-food business, Max AB, McDonald’s, Saudi Arabia, psychic distance, culture, adaptations / Vår allt mer globaliserade värld har medfört att alltfler svenska företag internationaliserar sin verksamhet till mer avlägsna områden. Ett av dessa svenska företag som nu står inför sin första utlandsexpansion är den svenska snabbmatskedjan Max AB. Max har valt att börja sin expansion i Saudiarabien, ett land långt ifrån Sverige, inte bara i termer av geografiskt avstånd utan även kulturellt avstånd. De kulturella skillnaderna som Max möter kan komma att påverka verksamheten och leda till att vissa anpassningar måste genomföras för en framgångsrik etablering. Uppsatsen undersöker det rådande förhållandet för snabbmatsbranschen i Saudiarabien och visar vilka anpassningar internationella snabbmatskedjor bör eller måste göra på grund av de kulturella skillnaderna de möter. Härefter följer en genomgång av vilka anpassningar Max kommer att göra i sitt koncept vid sin etablering i Saudiarabien. Den undersökningsmetod som har använts är kvalitativa intervjuer. En intervju med Max expansionschef samt tidigare marknadschef för McDonald’s i regionen mellanöstern har företagits. Resultatet från undersökningen visar på tydliga kulturella skillnader och att snabbmatskedjor måste förhålla sig och anpassa sig till dessa för genomförandet av en framgångsrik etablering. Nyckelord: Snabbmatsbranschen, Max AB, McDonald’s, Saudiarabien, psychic distance, kultur, anpassningar

For decades, the two biggest oil producers in the Middle East have been Saudi Arabia and Iran, two autocratic states that are also rivals in the region. With time, oil revenues have lowered and public discontent has risen. Through the use of a qualitative, comparative case study, this Bachelor’s Thesis aims to examine how the economic, social and political development in these countries has been affected by the oil revenues. From the theoretical viewpoints of Rentier State Theory and Assabiyya, the study concludes that oil revenues, as a considerable source of national income, has created undiversified economies in both Saudi Arabia and Iran. This has caused demands for economic, social and political change, leading to different responses from the respective states. Saudi Arabia has begun to diversify its economy to create several sources of income. The country has also initiated to loosen up its strict religious social codes in the public sphere. This is in contrast to Iran, where the government faces significant financial deficits and has started to exploit its population to compensate for the strained public economy. Additionally, no indication of political reforms towards a more democratic system of governance is seen in any of the two states.