Riadh Sidaoui is a Tunisian writer and political scientist who has a Swiss nationality. He is the director of the Geneva-based Centre Arabe de Recherches et d'Analyses Politiques et Sociales. Taqadoumiya since 2010. He has had articles and studies published in London, in newspapers such as Al-Hayat and Al-Quds Al-Arabi.
Sidaoui draws attention to the notion that many fanatical Islamists have degrees in sciences; in fact, the September 11, 2001 attacks were committed by men who had completed studies in natural sciences. He explains: "Despite the lack of a comprehensive study on the occupational origin of the leadership of Islamist movements in the Arab world, we can see an almost total domination of scientific careers. It seems that the number of engineers, doctors, physicists, etc., acting on behalf ofIslam, is considerable. This thesis is confirmed by the success of Islamists in the elections of scientific advice in the faculties of sciences. This same success is difficult if not impossible in the faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences.". After the fall of Arab dictators in the Arab Spring, Sidaoui said that the first winners of the revolutions are Islamists in view of their capacity of mobilization and organization. In addition, he noted that the Islamists have the overwhelming support of the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, the petrodollars, but also the United States, that accept a moderate Islam in the Arab world.
According to Riadh Sidaoui, habitual use of the term Wahhabism is scientifically false, and it should be substituted with the concept of Saudi Wahhabism, an Islamic doctrine which is based on the historical alliance between the political and financial power represented by Ibn Saud and the religious authority represented by Abdul Al-Wahhab. The doctrine continues to exist to this day thanks to this alliance, the financing of several religious channels, and the formation of several sheikhs. Sidaoui thinks that the political foundations of Islam lie in the republican democratic and non-Wahhabi monarchy mind. For him Saudi Wahhabism is a threat to Islam, Muslims and all humanity.
Publications
In English
"The Inner Weakness of Arab Media", in Natascha Fioretti et Marcello Foa, Islam and the Western World: the Role of the Media, éd. European Journalism Observatory, Lugano, 2008 ;
"Islamic Politics and the Military: Algeria 1962–2008", in Jan-Erik Lane et Hamadi Redissi, , éd. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham, 2009, p. 225–247..
In Arabic
Hiwarat nassiriyya éd. Arabesques, Tunis, 1992. ;
Heikel aw al milaf asirri il dhakira al arabiyya, Tunis, 1993. ;
Siraat annourab assiyasiyya wal askariyya fil jazair : al hizb, al jaych, al dawla , éd. Centre arabe de recherches et d'analyses, Beyrouth, 2003 ;
Maarek Abd Ennacer, éd. Centre arabe de recherches et d'analyses, Beyrouth, 2003 ;
In French
L'islamisme en Algérie: une révolution en marche ?, éd. Université de Genève, Genève, 1998;
FIS, armée, GIA : vainqueurs et vaincus, éd. Publisud, Paris, 2002;
L'Armée algérienne 1954/1994: Mutations internes, éd. Centre arabe de recherches et d'analyses, Paris, 2003.
