The Saudi royal decree against terrorism in February 2014, and later the Interior Ministry declaration in March banning several Islamist groups, can be considered as the general framework of the new security doctrine that will govern the behavior of the Saudi government in the coming period. This takes into account that potential court cases against those targeted by the two declarations will remain closer to the interests of political decision-makers, which may vary from case to case and time to time.
According to the new security doctrine, there are two main types of threats: solid threats, represented by al-Qaeda, the Houthis and Saudi Hezbollah (Hezbollah in the Hijaz),; and soft threats, represented by writings related to religion, or the so-called phenomenon of atheism, rights activism, and Islamist groups represented mainly by the Muslim Brotherhood.