Article 1 Department of Global & Social Studies, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Corresponding author: Sumanto Al Qurtuby, Department of Global & Social Studies, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail: alqurtuby@kfupm.edu.sa Contemporary Review of the Middle East 1–21 The Author(s) 2020 Reprints and permissions: in.sagepub.com/journals- permissions-india DOI: 10.1177/2347798920976286 journals.sagepub.com/home/cme Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Saudi Arabia Sumanto Al Qurtuby 1 and Shafi Aldamer 1 Abstract Since 2001, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been fighting domestic terrorism and adopting policies and strategies in countering radicalism and terrorism. How effective are these policies, strategies, and tactics in combating terrorist ideology, reducing the number of terrorist activists and sympathizers, as well as preventing terrorist acts in the Kingdom? Although the government’s roles and efforts in counterterrorism programs are fruitful and advantageous, further strategic actions are necessary. Keywords Terrorism, counterterrorism, radicalism, violent extremism, terrorist ideology, Islam, Muslim, Saudi Arabia, government policy, strategy Introduction Ever since the horrendous terrorist attacks that blasted the World Trade Centre of New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2011, the West has consistently portrayed the Muslim world as the supporter of global terrorism 1 and violent extremism (Abuza, 2003; Gabriel, 2002; Gold, 2003; Hammond, 2010; Spencer, 2004). In fact, history has recorded that terrorist acts are committed not only by the Muslims but also by non-Muslim actors (see Asseri, 2009; Hoffman, 2017; Juergensmeyer, 2003; Mamdani, 2005; Sageman, 2004). Examples of terrorist acts committed by non-Muslims abound across the globe. In Japan, a series of terrorist acts took place since the mid-1970s until early 2000s, including the 1995