Mark C. Thompson

Mark C. Thompson is a senior research fellow and head of the Socioeconomics Program at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. He was the assistant professor of Middle East Studies at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran from 2012-20. Thompson has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia since 2001 for diverse institutions, such as Saudi Arabian Airlines, the Saudi Arabian National Guard, and Prince Sultan University. His books include Realizing Vision 2030: Governance, Institutions and Human Capital Development (Bloomsbury IB Tauris 2026), Saudi Arabia and the Path to Political Change: National Dialogue and Civil Society (Bloomsbury IB Tauris, 2014), and Being Young Male and Saudi: Identity and Politics in a Globalized Kingdom (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Thompson is also the co-editor with Neil Quilliam of Policy-Making in the GCC: State, Citizens and Institutions (Bloomsbury IB Tauris, 2017), Governance and Domestic Policy Making in Saudi Arabia: Transforming Society, Economics, Politics, and Culture (Bloomsbury IB Tauris 2022), and Saudi Youth: Policies and Processes (Springer 2024). He has one new book in process: Male Youth Issues: Everyday Life in Saudi Arabia (forthcoming Cambridge University Press).