The Failure of Non-State Actors in the Enforcement of the UK’s Arms Export Control Criteria with Saudi Arabia. The current Yemen conflict viewed in the context of UK–Saudi financial and security interests from the creation of the modern Saudi State.

Abstract

UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia for use in the current conflict in Yemen, ongoing since March 2015, provides the focus for exploring the competing interests in the historic UK-Saudi relationship. Specific attention is given to the efforts of non-state actors to raise with the British government the issue of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations by Saudi Arabia and thus to compel it to halt licenses. The thesis demonstrates how the efforts of non-state actors have been unsuccessful in forcing the government to halt weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, despite the credible and authoritative evidence provided by them. Structured within Constructivist Theory and its implications for a state’s adherence to IHL, the thesis demonstrates Constructivism’s limitations in explaining a state’s compliance with IHL. Instead, the British Government has embarked upon a deliberate strategy of avoidance and manipulation of its supposed “robust” export regime, allowing it to continue to exploit the other competing interests in the UK-Saudi relationship. These interests are shown to be historically deep and complex, with financial and security factors playing the primary role in shaping its direction since the creation of the modern Saudi state in 1932.