From Napoleon to Vision 2030, from Tintin to Gaza: Saudi Arabia told by Louis Blin
Louis Blin, historian and diplomat, is one of the best specialists in the Arab world and Saudi Arabia. In his latest book, Unusual dictionary of Saudi Arabia (Cosmopole) – which we highly recommend – it offers an accessible approach to better understand this country often reduced to shots. In this interview, he returns to the history of Franco-Saudi relations, the evolution of the role of Wahhabism, the social transformations in progress-notably carried by women-as well as the economic issues linked to the Vision 2030 project. He also addresses the position of Arabia in the face of the Israeli-Palestinian question, between ignorance and realpolitik, and questions the singular place of the Western imagination Hugo in Tintin.
Interview report with Louis Blin, author of Unusual dictionary of Saudi Arabia (Cosmopole)
A long -known and caricatured country
Historian and diplomat, Louis Blin devoted a large part of his career to the study of Saudi Arabia. In his latest work, Unusual dictionary of Saudi Arabia (Cosmopole), he seeks to offer an entry key accessible to an often caricatured country. Far from the “Islamic Jurassic Park” described by some, Blin underlines that “Homo Islamicus looks like us a lot”. For him, Arabia is neither more exotic nor more foreign than another Arab country, and deserves to be discovered by the general public, beyond the clichés.
A forgotten Franco-Saudi story
The author recalls that the French interest in Arabia is old, but largely fallen into oblivion. Napoleon, during his Egyptian campaign, had sought to establish links with the Chérif of Mecca. Later, he even tried to ally with the Wahhabites. Great writers of the 19th century like Dumas or Lamartine became interested in the kingdom. However, French collective memory has erased these pages of history, preferring to reduce Arabia to a rejecting image.
Wahhabism: social control more than religious radicality
Louis Blin insists on the historical role of Wahhabism in the construction of the Saudi state. This rigorous current, long presented in the West as intrinsically violent, was according to him above all “an Islamization of radicality and not a radicalization of Islam”. It served as political cement to unify a tribal and anarchic society. Today, the Saudi state is solidly built and can enter a new stage: that of national construction. The current dewahhabization does not imply a “desislamization”, but a reorganization of the relationships between religion, society and power.
Women, engine of social transformation
One of the highlights of the interview concerns the central role of women. Long confined to the private space, they have conquered a new place in the company, in particular since the authorization of driving. “They are the ones who exploded the socio-religious camisole,” explains Blin. They have become actresses in their history and actively participate in the world of work, essential in an economy that seeks to get out of oil dependence. If Arabia remains a dictatorship, notes Blin, the government nevertheless benefits from massive support for youth and women, who see in these changes an unexpected opening.
Vision 2030: a mobilizing utopia
To accompany this transfer, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salmane launched the Vision 2030 project, qualified by Blin “as Alpha and Omega of the Saudi authorities”. If this ambitious economic diversification plan may seem utopian, it has had the merit of mobilizing society around a common horizon. He also strengthened the legitimacy of the Crown Prince, who was able to associate social transformations and economic opening.
Israel and Palestine: between ignorance and realpolitik
On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Louis Blin highlights a paradox. Arabia is one of the rare states of the region not to have normalized its relations with Israel, but the Saudis do not know the Palestinian cause, partly because of the Wahhabism which has discouraged all historical and political culture. The Palestinians present in the kingdom belong mainly to an integrated middle class, far from the experience of the occupation. This explains limited solidarity, even if the population and the state remain firmly opposed to Israel, as recalled by the condemnation of the war in Gaza.
Arabia in the Western imagination
Finally, Louis Blin evokes the recurring presence of Arabia in the adventures of Tintin, although never explicitly named. For him, this detail speaks volumes: Arabia, although Occultée in European public discourse, lives in our collective unconscious. It fascinates and disturbs both, because it remains the only country in the world to have escaped colonization and to refuse access to some of its cities to foreigners.
