Political Risk:
Critical
Score:
9/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
0/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
View Question
As there is no legislative body or a parliament in the KSA, there is no authorized council that has formal rights or power over…
Explore
Our sources confirm that the Shura Council does not review any defence policies, budgets, operations, reports or legislation (1). Reviewing defence policy is not…
Explore
The executive (King and Crown Prince) have executive and legislative powers, and authorities concentrated in their hands (1). Therefore, they undermine the semi-legislative/consultative council…
Explore
Q2
8/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
View Question
The Majlis al-Shura includes The Committee on Security Affairs, which is responsible for studying several sectors and issues, including the Ministry of the Interior,…
Explore
A number of the members of the Majlis al-Shura’s Committee on Security Affairs come from military backgrounds. Meanwhile, several of the nine members of…
Explore
According to our sources, Majlis al-Shura’s defence committee and the CPSA do not conduct any major reviews of defence policies. It is not in…
Explore
The committee does not have any oversight mechanism in place on security and defence issues (1). It is unclear how many times per year…
Explore
The council and its members are loyal to the king and his son, and therefore, they can not investigate issues that may affect the…
Explore
The government takes no recommendations or feedback from the committee. There are no reports available, according to our sources, that contain recommendations for the…
Explore
Q3
8/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
View Question
The defence policy and security strategy have not been publicly debated within the last year. Defence policies and strategies are rarely communicated to the…
Explore
There is no open debate about Saudi defence or national security policy, therefore this sub-indicator is not applicable (1), (2).
Explore
As there is no formal consultation process with the public on defence policy in Saudi Arabia, this sub-indicator is not applicable (1), (2).
Explore
Information on the defence policy and the national security strategy has traditionally been released to the public infrequently and on an ad hoc basis.…
Explore
Q4
0/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
View Question
Saudi Arabia does not have any formal or informal policy requiring openness towards corruption-focused CSOs in the defence sector. In practice, there are virtually…
Explore
Due to a centralised administrative approach to CSOs and historical government restrictions on their operations, the civil society sector in Saudi Arabia is vastly…
Explore
According to our sources, CSO requests concerning defence or security information would be denied. This includes access for data for academic or advocacy work…
Explore
Q5
38/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
View Question
In April 2013, Saudi Arabia ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) (1). However, like many of the signatories of the convention (including…
Explore
According to the report by the Implementation Review Group for UNCAC published in June 2018, Saudi Arabia has committed itself to pursue zero-tolerance against…
Explore
Q6
13/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
View Question
In general, there is limited space for open and frank debate about government policies in Saudi Arabia, especially in the areas of defence and…
Explore
According to our sources, the government sometimes discusses publicly in a one-way channel some issues related to the defence sector. However, this discussion is…
Explore
Q7
13/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
View Question
Saudi Arabia does have laws and a framework in place to combat corruption and has established bureaucratic agencies and regulations designed to identify and…
Explore
According to our sources, despite the presence of Nazaha and anti-corruption law, there is no action plan that is available publicly or implemented within…
Explore
Q8
25/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
View Question
Saudi Arabia does not have any institutions or compliance and ethics units solely dedicated to monitoring corruption in the security and defense sectors. There…
Explore
Saudi Arabia does not have an institution or unit tasked with countering corruption in the defence and security industry, and therefore this sub-indicator is…
Explore
Saudi Arabia does not have an institution or unit tasked with countering corruption in the defence and security industry, and therefore this sub-indicator is…
Explore
Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
View Question
This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Public opinion is generally difficult to garner in Saudi Arabia given the limited nature…
Explore
Q10
0/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
View Question
According to our sources, there has not been any defense targeting assessment of corruption been taken place. There is no, in general within the…
Explore
Risk assessments on high-risk areas for corruption are not conducted, so this sub-indicator is not applicable (1), (2).
Explore
Risk assessments on high-risk areas for corruption are not conducted, so this sub-indicator is not applicable (1), (2).
Explore
Defence Budgets
Q11
0/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
View Question
According to our resources and experts in the field, Saudi Arabia has recently developed a process of acquisition planning as part of the procurement…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been scored Not Applicable because there is no defined process for acquisition planning. The Saudi government does not disclose details of…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been scored Not Applicable because there is no defined process for acquisition planning. Military acquisition decisions are made more or less…
Explore
Q12
13/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
View Question
According to our sources, there is no detailed budget or aggregated budget of defence expenses available for the public (1). Another source confirms that…
Explore
There is no evidence in the founding Royal Decree of the Majlis al-Shura (the rough equivalent of the legislature in Saudi Arabia), nor in…
Explore
Q13
0/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
View Question
As noted above, there is a Security Affairs Committee in the Majlis al-Shura, which has the power to summon and question government ministers (1).…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been scored Not Applicable as the legislative committee has no formal powers. According to our sources, neither the Majlis nor the…
Explore
Q14
0/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
View Question
The full defence budget is not made publicly available, nor is it possible in general for citizens, civil society organisations or the media to…
Explore
According to our sources, the only available data on military expenses is an aggregated number. A detailed budget on defence has not been available…
Explore
According to a financial auditor and another researcher whose focus is KSA, it is almost impossible to get information about the military budget. It…
Explore
Q15
0/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
View Question
The government does not publish sources of defence income other than from central government allocation. The military and defence sectors do not currently represent…
Explore
According to our sources, there is no institutional scrutiny of non-central government sources of income by either the Consultative Council or any other government…
Explore
There is no public scrutiny of either central or non-central government sources of funding in the country; there is no culture of open debate…
Explore
Q16
6/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
View Question
According to Saudi Arabia’s Basic Law of Governance of 1992, each government agency is subject to an internal auditing process (1). This includes the…
Explore
There is no evidence that internal auditing takes place for sensitive or critical issues within military and defence expenditure. In the current administration, the…
Explore
According to our sources, there is no externally enabled scrutiny mechanism or body that is mandated with oversight over the MoD expenditures, it does…
Explore
Information regarding auditing processes and findings are not made publicly available. According to our sources, such findings are taken into account and addressed because…
Explore
Q17
0/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
View Question
The General Auditing Bureau (GAB) is responsible for auditing the state’s revenues, expenditures and assets, and technically has purview over all ministries and government…
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked as Not Applicable as there is little to no external audit of defence ministry expenditure. According to our sources, there…
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked as Not Applicable as there is little to no external audit of defence ministry expenditure. According to our sources, there…
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked as Not Applicable as there is little to no external audit of defence ministry expenditure. According to our sources, there…
Explore
Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
10/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
View Question
According to our sources, there is no restriction or any legal framework that prohibits the military or the army from holding control over financial…
Explore
According to our sources, there are many individuals (i.e. royal family) who hold financial interests in the natural resources of the country (1),(2). However,…
Explore
According to our resources, senior commanders who are members of the royal family have a high level of involvement in businesses relating to the…
Explore
Interests of individual defence personnel or institutions in businesses associated with natural resource exploitation are not publicly stated. Royal family members and government officials…
Explore
The financial interests of defence establishment individuals in enterprises relating to natural resource exploitation are not subject to any form of scrutiny in Saudi…
Explore
Organised Crime
Q19
75/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
View Question
Q20
0/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
View Question
According to our sources, there are no units that specifically investigate corruption crimes within the armed forces. However, there are religious units that preach…
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no policing function that is exercised over the defence services to investigate corruption or organised…
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no policing function that is exercised over the defence services to investigate corruption or organised…
Explore
Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
View Question
There is no evidence to suggest that the policies, administration or budget of the Saudi intelligence services, the primary of which is the General…
Explore
As there is no independent oversight of the intelligence service’s policies, administration and budgets, this sub-indicator is not applicable. (1), (2).
Explore
Q22
0/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
View Question
According to our sources, the selection criteria is not clear and there are no documents that spell out what criteria a senior intelligence officer…
Explore
According to our sources, almost all senior positions within the intelligence agency are a gift for loyalists and other tribes that have connections to…
Explore
As mentioned above, most of the appointments are based on having a close relation to the crown prince and loyalty. Therefore, there is no…
Explore
Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
View Question
The country is not a signatory to the ATT (1), Saudi Arabia is a major arms importer and does not thus far have a…
Explore
This sub-indicator is scored Not Applicable because the country is not a signatory to the ATT (1), Saudi Arabia is a major arms importer…
Explore
As there is no parliament in KSA, there are no measures or mechanisms to scrutinize any arms export or import process. As mentioned above,…
Explore
Lobbying in Defence
Saudi Arabia has no framework governing lobbying activity of defence institutions. According to our sources, lobbying activities are done through personal connections and not…
Explore
As Saudi Arabia has no legislation regulating the defence sector (or any lobbying activities), this sub-indicator is marked as not applicable.
Explore
Saudi Arabia has no legislation regulating defence industry lobbying, therefore this sub-indicator is marked as not applicable.
Explore
Saudi Arabia has no legislation regulating defence industry lobbying, therefore this sub-indicator is marked as not applicable.
Explore