The Unlikely Partnership: The State of the U.S.-Saudi Relationship. Jennifer S. Delaney. Master of Arts in Diplomacy and Military Studies

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1 The Unlikely Partnership: The State of the U.S.-Saudi Relationship Jennifer S. Delaney Master of Arts in Diplomacy and Military Studies Summer 2009

2 ii We Certify that we have read this professional paper and that, in our opinion, it is satisfactory in scope and quality for the degree of Master of Arts in Diplomacy and Military Studies. Committee Approved: Grace Cheng, Ph.D., Primary Reader 7/17/09 Approved: George Satterfield, Ph.D., Secondary Reader: 7/18/09

3 iii Abstract Until the 1990s most Americans were hard pressed to find Saudi Arabia on a map of the world. The Gulf War propelled this Middle East nation onto American television sets and into their homes. Books and magazine articles about the culture and society lined book store shelves and documentaries found their way onto weekly television line-ups. Saudis, for the first time, were introduced to mass American media and the isolated bubble that they had created for themselves was suddenly burst as hundreds of foreign soldiers flooded the country to halt Saddam Hussein s advances. Despite huge cultural and political differences both nations worked together and were successful in pushing back Saddam Hussain. For a time, differences between the two nations were put aside and Saudi Arabia was thought of as a solid American ally. The events of September 11 th 2001 shocked the world and brought the entire U.S.-Saudi alliance into the spotlight. The fact that Osama bin Laden and the majority of the hijackers were Saudi citizens made the public, the press and the government really examine this relationship. What many Americans and Saudis were not aware of was the history of the relationship or the extent of the alliance. This paper takes a closer look at how the events of 9/11 affected this long time relationship. It identifies key elements, which over the past 70 years have been the cornerstones of the relationship, to see whether or not they have been changed by 9/11 and its aftermath. Hopefully, the paper will give the reader a better understanding of the history of the U.S.-Saudi relationship as well as the current status of the relationship.

4 iv Table of Contents Abstract Table of Contents iii iv Introduction 1 Part I: The Origins of a Friendship 19 Chapter One: Introduction to the U.S.-Saudi Relationship 19 Part II: The Special Relationship 43 Chapter Two: Foreign Policy U.S.- Saudi Policy Objectives 43 Chapter Three: The Importance of Oil 69 Chapter Four: The Need for Security 89 Chapter Five: The Struggle Over Modernization 110 Part III: The State of a Partnership 126 Conclusions: The Current State of the U.S.- Saudi Relationship 126 Bibliography 135

5 1 Introduction Since 1943 I have considered the interests of my country and community to be the same as those of the United States we differ in nothing basic after Allah we trust in America. HRH King Faisal ibn Saud to Ambassador Hart in Given the events of the last decade the irony of this statement is not lost on most people. These basic interests that King Faisal seemed to believe united America and Saudi Arabia are not apparent to everyone. The differences between the two countries and their cultures are enormous. Whole books have been written on the differences that divide the United States and Saudi Arabia and just how dangerous these differences are to the national security of both nations. To simply list a few: one country is democratic and secular while the other is a theocratic monarchy. One prides itself on the freedom of speech and press and the ability to criticize one s government, while the other prides itself on following the guidance of religious leaders and a royal family. Criticism is not something that is taken lightly in Saudi Arabia. As explained in the Donald Carpenter book 101 Reasons Not to Murder the Entire Saudi Royal Family, The masses in Saudi Arabia are not very open to freedom of speech of the type that we have here in America. They probably would not be very open to allowing any sentiments that opposed their religious tenets, or even to allowing for open criticism of the Saudi Royal Family. 2 One country supports Israel while the other is at pains to recognize its existence. One supports the growing rights of women in politics and the business world, 1 (Posner 2005) (Stegner 2007) (Unger 2004) Hart, Parker T. Saudi Arabia and the United States: Birth of a Security Partnership. (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998.), pxvii. 2 Carpenter, Donald H. 101 Reasons Not to Murder the Entire Saudi Royal Family. (Xlibris Corporation, 2003.), 37.

6 2 while the other struggles with the idea that there is a role for women outside the home and family. One champions human rights, while the international community has found the other s human rights record questionable. So what are these basic interests to which King Faisal was referring? Are these countries which appear diametrically opposed on paper really more similar than the average person would recognize at first glance? The remarkable alliance between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is often referred to as the U.S.-Saudi, special relationship. It has allowed Saudi Arabia s ambassadors unprecedented access to U.S. presidents and caused special offices in the United States bureaucracy to be created. One such example is, Inside the Treasury Department, to accommodate Saudi needs, the Office of Saudi Arabian Affairs was established, the only such office for any foreign country. 3 The attacks on September 11, 2001 brought into question the close nature of the Saudi- U.S. relationship like no other event has. Twelve of the fifteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens a fact that cannot be easily ignored or explained away. It has forced the governments and citizens of both nations to take a closer look at their strategic alliance and their close economic and political relationship and examine if it is still mutually beneficial or if the differences between these two countries finally overshadow any basic interests that they previously shared. 3 Posner, Gerald, Secrets of the Kingdom: Inside the Story of the Saudi-U.S. Connection. (Random House, 2005.), 67.

7 3 The most common explanation for the close special relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is oil-for-security. The United States needs a dependable supply of oil at stable prices and Saudi Arabia wants assurance that the United States will guarantee Saudi territorial integrity. In order to achieve these goals the two nations were forced to work together in ways neither could have imagined. First through the oil companies and later the Joint Economic Commission Office Riyadh (JECOR), the United States has played an integral part in the structuring of modern Saudi Arabia. Everything from national parks to national banks has been influenced by the United States. The need to effectively get oil out of the ground and to market in a country that in the early days had virtually no modern infrastructure created the need for the private and government sectors to cooperate. As anthropologist Carleton Coon predicted, Aramco s partnership with Arabia, will go on record as one of the outstanding jobs of social engineering in this phase of the history of the world. 4 The Saudi s began to develop their oil fields and play a greater role in world politics at a time when fear of the spread of communism dominated the foreign policy of most western nations. Because communism s anti-religious nature and political structure contradicted many of the Saudi s core values, the Saudi s chose to join the anti-communist bloc. Saudi Arabia campaigned against Nasser s Arab nationalism and took part in many of the United States covert actions to halt the spread of communism during the 1970s and 1980s. Saudi Arabia was involved in actions in Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia and Nicaragua. Despite oil embargos, different policies towards 4 Stegner, Wallace. Discovery! The Search for Arabian Oil. (California: Selwa Press, ), xxxiv.

8 4 Palestine and regional instability the two countries have consistently found ways to work together to further their strategic interests. The need for economic prosperity and national security are basic to any nation and touch almost all aspects of a society. A stable oil supply at reasonable prices means more than just plenty of gas at filling stations it affects food prices, job markets, and global financial stability. In order to ensure that oil keeps flowing, stability and security in the oil producing state is imperative. In the mid twentieth century the United States and Saudi Arabia intertwined their economies and foreign policies, rejecting the colonial model and creating a model designed for their mutual benefit. This partnership allowed the Kingdom to develop without direct foreign aid but still receive the benefits of Western assistance. It gave the United States a steady supply of inexpensive oil and an ally in the Middle East without the burden of supporting a colony. However the relationship between countries, no matter how intertwined, is constantly changing. Has the tension between these two strategic allies caused by 9/11 and the Global War on Terror (GWOT) broken this special relationship? By analyzing key elements of their relationship pre-september 11 th and post September 11 th this paper hopes to better understand the current status of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. The general discussion surrounding the U.S.-Saudi relationship has acknowledged the unique balance of power struggle used by the House of Saud to manage the conflict between modernization needed for the Kingdom s prosperity and the strict Wahabi Islamic beliefs upon which the country was founded and the Royal Family s legitimacy is based. Donald Carpenter noted, [the Saudi Royal Family] are

9 5 walking that very thin line between holding on to their power and control and wealth, and loosing it to the religious fanatics within their own country. So if the vox populi says hate the Christians, they ll hate the Christians.In a way, they are the puppets of their own puppets. 5 Over the last decade the rise of Islamic extremism has tipped the balance of power away from the Royal Family towards the radical clerics. Most of the literature focuses on the worrisome change in this power struggle either as a failure of the Saudi Royal Family to control its own religious leaders, the failure of the United States and the West to address the issue of radical Islam and in some cases even to support it, or simply, as a clash between two societies that do not understand each other. However, often the literature does not pay enough attention to the extensive role that the United States has played in the development of Saudi Arabia. As Thomas Lippman points out in his book, Inside the Mirage: America s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia, They brought the country industrialization, electricity, and telephones, modern medicine, mechanized agriculture, air conditioning, and jet aviation. One way or another, Americans have had a formative influence on almost every aspect of contemporary Saudi life except religion. 6 Like it or not, the United States has left a deep imprint on the fabric of Saudi Arabia. This is not to say that these two countries do not have huge cultural differences or that the path has been trouble free but that the developmental experiment entered into between Saudi Arabia s founding king, Abdul Aziz, and the U.S. 5 Carpenter, Donald H. 101 Reasons Not to Murder the Entire Saudi Royal Family. (Xlibris Corporation, 2003.), Lippman, Thomas W. Inside the Mirage: America s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia. (Westview Press, 2004.), 5.

10 6 is unique and has not been given enough attention. The unique manner in which the Saudi Royal Family chose to develop their country has created enough of a foundation between these two very different societies so that while the effects of 9/11 clearly strained the alliance it has not been broken. Rather, in many ways, the alliance has been strengthened. There are a few limitations which have affected the research and writing of this paper. I don t speak Arabic so all documents from the Arab side came from official translations or pieces written by Saudis in English. This bias did not significantly affect the outcome of the paper because it has been identified but also because the nature of the study lends itself to information that has been published for mass consumption. While it would be informative to read Arabic, I am not searching for classified or hidden motives that could only be found in Arabic writings. The search for classified, hidden motives of either government is not the objective of this paper but rather how each government s actions and statements have been perceived by the other country and how those perceptions have affected the relationship between the two countries pre and post 9/11. Another bias that has the potential to affect the paper is a personal one. I spent many years living in Saudi Arabia and developed specific opinions on the nature of the Saudi U.S. relationship. This makes the study of a more personal nature for me than to most. This said, hopefully the presentation of my analyses will justify this paper s argument: that the unique manner in which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and King Abdul Aziz chose to develop his nation played a much bigger role in the special

11 7 relationship than is commonly acknowledged. The imprint left on both nations after so many years of cultural and industrial exchange has created a bond greater than just oilfor-security and can explain the way these countries have reacted to crises in the political, cultural and economic arenas. The paper is organized into three parts. Part One describes the foundation for the paper and consists of the introduction, literature review, methodology and short description and background of Saudi Arabia that will give the readers a context in which to place the paper s analysis. The second part of the paper will discuss in depth the key elements of the relationship pre and post 9/11. The third part of the paper will conclude and give final thoughts on the analyses. Literature Review The literature surrounding the subject of U.S.-Saudi relations can be divided into two sides, those who favor a continued close relationship and those who believe the relationship is more harmful than it is beneficial. Like any debate there are various reasons to support either side of the argument. After the terrorist attacks on September 11 th 2001 articles began to fill newspapers and books began to line store shelves revealing scandalous details about the Saudi Royal Family s connection to the 9/11 events and the Saudi s close relationship with Washington. Books like House of Bush House of Saud by Craig Unger discussed in depth how the close personal and financial relationship between the two families jeopardized American security. Never before had a president of the United States much less, two presidents from the same family had such close personal and

12 8 financial ties to the ruling family of another foreign power. 7 He argues that these close relations between the two leading families led to poor decision making by America. Most notably the decision to quietly remove members of the bin Laden family and Saudi elites from the United States in the forty-eight hours following the attacks when all other air travel had been suspended, Thousands of people had just been killed by Osama bin Laden. Didn t it make sense to at least interview his relatives and other Saudis who, inadvertently or not, may have aided him? 8 Other authors focused on the Saudi Royal Family s funding of terrorist activity. Gerald Posner s book Secrets of the Kingdom: Inside the U.S.-Saudi Connection revealed an interesting theory that the funding of terrorism was not just being done by low ranking princes or those angry with the House of Saud but rather was a problem that could also be found among the Saudi ruling elite. He cites an interrogation done by the CIA in which the CIA integrators pretended to be Saudis in the hope that the Saudi reputation for painful interrogation methods would encourage their subject to speak. Shockingly, the terrorist gave his interrogators personal telephone numbers of the King s nephew and a prominent Saudi officer, also a member of the Royal Family. The numbers given to the CIA were accurate and most strangely both princes along with the other person named by the terrorist died shortly after the incident. 9 The speculation that high royal officials were funding terrorism was not limited to the secret world of U.S. 7 Unger, Craig. House of Bush House of Saud. New York: Scribner, 2004.pg Ibid. Pg Posner, Gerald, Secrets of the Kingdom: Inside the Story of the Saudi-U.S. Connection. Random House, Pg 5.

13 9 intelligence agencies. The media alleged that Princess Haifa, wife of Prince Bandar the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, helped to fund the September 11 th attacks. She allegedly gave money to a Jordanian woman who then gave the money to al-qaeda. The Princess was the most notorious case but royal funding of terrorist organizations was a complaint made by many in the press who believe close relations with Saudi Arabia is contrary to America s best interest. Still others like Robert Baer in his book Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold our Soul for Saudi Crude mention the lax attitude that the Saudis displayed towards helping fight the GWOT. Twelve of the fifteen hijackers were Saudi yet, A year and a half later, there still hadn t been a single Saudi arrest that helped us get to the bottom of September September 11 is not the only terrorist act that the Saudis have been reluctant to help the United States investigate. The bombing of the Khobar Towers in 1996 killed 19 United States airmen and wounded five hundred Americans and Saudis. 11 Many, such as Richard Lowry in his article, A Cold Look at the Saudis compared the cooperation the Saudis provided during the Khobar Towers investigation to their reaction to 9/11. Saudi reaction to every terrorist attack against the U.S. to which the Kingdom has had a connection in recent years had been a mixture of avoidance, dishonesty, and passive aggression Baer, Robert. Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold our Soul for Saudi Crude. New York: Three Rivers Press, Pg Simpson, William. The Prince: The Secret Story of the World s Most Intriguing Royal Prince Bandar bin Sultan. New York: HarperCollins, Pg Richard Lowry. America s Un-special Relationship: A Cold Look at the Saudis. National Review, February 25, 2002.

14 10 The authors mentioned above, who are critical of a continued close relationship, are members of the media and independent authors. The second group, dominated by government officials or spokesmen, does not see the U.S.- Saudi relationship as a disastrous friendship for America and feels it is important to U.S. interests This group feels that the media coverage after 9/11, and the national hysteria that it instigated, were too quick to condemn the Saudis and the special relationship. The 9/11 Commission Report represents the official U.S. report on the events leading up to and during the September 11 attack. It cleared the Saudi government of the majority of charges made by the media, Our own independent review of the Saudi nationals involved confirms that no one with known links to terrorism departed on these flights. 13 The report also stated that, We found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution, or senior officials within the Saudi government, funded al- Qaeda. 14 Many felt the fact that twenty-five pages detailing Saudi Arabia s involvement were blanked out of the report caused the Commission s Report to lose some of its credibility. Nevertheless, it is the official government position on the events. The U.S. government was not the only organization to exonerate the Saudi government or to acknowledge their efforts to address the problem of funding terrorism. An OECD organization devoted to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, judged 13 The 9/11 Commission Report. Authorized Edition, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Pg Simpson, William. The Prince: The Secret Story of the World s Most Intriguing Royal Prince Bandar bin Sultan. New York: HarperCollins, Pg. 318.

15 11 that the Kingdom was compliant or largely compliant with international standards in almost every indicator of effectiveness. 15 The U.S. government was not the only one to respond to the media s harsh criticism of the Saudi government. The Saudi Bashing that occurred after the events of 9/11 caused the Saudi government to produce a paper defending their efforts and launch a public relations campaign throughout America. In the words of Prince Bandar, I believe the Saudi relationship with America will fail or continue, based on how successful we are to reach the Americans in their homes and villages. 16 The Saudi government used a variety of styles of communication in an effort to reach out to the United States. In an address to the Council on Foreign Relations Prince Saud Al Faisal talked about the damage the Saudi bashing was causing, A critical juncture has been reached, and unless joint efforts are brought to bear to redress and rectify the underlying causes, the damage may be grave. 17 Addresses like the one Prince Saud made attempted to explain Saudi Arabia s actions from a Saudi perspective. The Saudi government also published documents responding to what they perceived the media s allegations against them to be. Such publications like the Initiatives and Actions Taken By the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Combat Terrorism published in March of 2004 address in detail the key points i.e., that fifteen of the hijackers were Saudi, Saudi 15 Bronson, Rachel, Thicker than Oil: America s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia. Oxford University Press, Pg Simpson, William. The Prince: The Secret Story of the World s Most Intriguing Royal Prince Bandar bin Sultan. New York: HarperCollins, Pg HRH Prince Saud Al-Faisal. The United States and Saudi Arabia: A Relationship Threatened by Misconception. Council on Foreign Relations. New York, New York. 27 April 2004.

16 12 Arabia s social structure nurtures terrorism and extremism, Saudi Arabia has not done enough to introduce fiscal regulations and monitor terrorist funds and Saudi Arabia is not cooperating with the international community in the fight against terrorism. These addresses and publications were an effort to counter the negative information flooding the general public. One more argument in the debate on how close the U.S.-Saudi relationship should be takes a more theological approach. Scholars like Bernard Lewis, Edward Said, Karen Armstrong and John Esposito link the nature of Islam and past colonial oppression to the hostility the Middle East feels for the West and helps explain why they have turned to extreme measures. Edward Said s book Orientalism, although written in the 1970s, introduces the idea that many of the problems found in former colonies of Western nations, in particular the Middle East and Africa, have to do with the development of the Orientalist ideal. The West divided the world into us and them and in order to justify the subjugation of the one side the West explained away the capabilities of the colonized nation until it was generally believed by both sides that the one was superior to the other. Edward Said argued that this division permanently damaged the Arab psyche. As he expressed in his book, My argument takes it that the Orientalist reality is both antihuman and persistent. Its scope, as much as its institutions and all-pervasive influence, lasts up to the present. 18 More importantly as Said comments in the afterword of his book, Yet, Orientalism has in fact been read and written about in the Arab world as a systematic defense of Islam and the Arabs, even 18 Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, Pg 44.

17 13 though I say explicitly in the book that I have no interest in, much less capacity for showing what the true Orient and Islam really are. 19 His theory has been used by many to explain away the problems of the Middle East and place the blame on the West. The ideas expressed in Orientalism have become a mainstream sentiment throughout the Middle East and even though Saudi Arabia was never officially colonized by a Western power the feeling that they too have been purposefully held back and lead astray by Western superpowers is a pervasive and a common belief. As Bernard Lewis explains the phenomenon in his book The Crisis of Islam, As seen by many in the Middle East and North Africa, both capitalism and socialism were tried and have failed; both Western and Eastern models produced only poverty and tyranny. 20 To many in the Arab world the answer seemed simple, the Arabs needed to find their own model and, Religious fundamentalism enjoys several advantages against competing ideologies. 21 The already strict religious nature of Saudi society and the theocratic nature of the government make Saudi Arabia especially susceptible to the religious fundamentalist ideologies. The worry among many now is how the Middle East is going to combat the spread of this violent ideology. Some scholars like Robert Spencer worry that, The general reluctance to criticize any non-christian religion and the almost universal public ignorance about Islam make for a lethal mix. 22 In other 19 Ibid. Pg Lewis, Bernard. The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. New York: The Modern Library, Pg Ibid. Pg Spencer, Robert. Islam Unveiled. New York: Encounter Books, Pg. 175.

18 14 words how can we combat our enemy if we refuse to understand their true motives? Authors like Bernard Lewis and Robert Spencer worry that a, long and bitter struggle lies ahead, and not only for America. 23 The Western scholars are not the only group to be concerned about the popularity of extremist ideas. It has become a goal of the Saudi government to show the West that they are combating religious rhetoric at home. The Saudi government has attempted to reign in their religious clerics and to examine their state educational system. To this end they have published documents such as, Public Statements by Senior Saudi Officials and Religious Scholars Condemning Extremism and Promoting Modernization. 24 This is just one example of a published pamphlet listing speeches and comments from government officials that condemn terrorist activity and militant Islam. For this group, whether Arab or Western, continued close relations between these two nations needs to be thoroughly thought out because the risks from extremist groups, to either nation, cannot easily be overcome. Methodology As stated earlier the goal of this paper is to examine U.S.-Saudi relations pre and post September 11 th to determine what, if any, changes have taken place. In doing so this paper hopes to shed light on the status of the special relationship enjoyed between 23 Lewis, Bernard. The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. New York: The Modern Library, Pg Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Information Office. Public Statements by Senior Saudi Officials and Religious Scholars Condemning Extremism and Promoting Moderation. Washington D.C.: 2008.

19 15 Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for the last seventy years. To accomplish this a method of analysis must be established. The U.S.-Saudi relationship is extremely intertwined and complex. If every event that took place over the last seventy years were to be examined this paper would be entirely too long and convoluted. To avoid this, key elements have been identified in various areas of the U.S.-Saudi relationship which provide a framework for a method of analysis for this paper. These key elements will be broad enough to cover most aspects of the U.S.- Saudi relationship while still limiting the scope of the research to a manageable level. These key elements are a vital part of the analysis and were chosen on the basis of three criteria. One, the element must have been present throughout the majority of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. In order for the element to shed light on pre 9/11 and post 9/11 issues it needs to have played a role in the relationship for an extended period. The longer the element has been an issue presumably the greater impact it has. Two, the element must affect the relationship in either a negative or a positive manner. An event may fill headlines for a short time but if there is no long lasting impact on the relationship then the element is not truly relevant. For example, the Saudi boycott on people of the Jewish faith working or visiting their country. A suit was brought to court in the United States charging U.S. companies with prejudice because they did not hire people to work inside the Kingdom if they were of the Jewish faith. After moving through the judicial system, Congress eventually made it illegal for American

20 16 corporations to comply with the Arab boycott in any way. 25 In recent years deals have been worked out and the boycott virtually lifted. This issue had no major impact on the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Three, the element must have involved action by governments of both countries. The public and the media are key actors in the U.S.-Saudi relationship because their opinions influence the actions of the governments but until the government acts on a particular issue the official alliance has not been altered. These criteria were selected because they concisely cover all aspects of the relationship and establish parameters that will be used to help determine the status of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Flaws within each criterion can be identified. Criterion One states that the element must have been present throughout the course of the relationship. While over the course of years many things have happened which have had some kind of an impact such events do not negate the fact that most important elements of the relationship have been present since it began. Criterion Two requires that the element have a positive or negative effect on the relationship. It could be argued that an event could have a significant impact on a relationship without being labeled positive or negative. Without a lasting negative or positive effect change in the relationship is hard to measure and change in the status of the relationship is what this paper is interested in discovering. Finally, it could be argued that the actions of non- 25 Lippman, Thomas W. Inside the Mirage: America s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia. Westview Press, Pg Chapter 2:

21 17 governmental actors play a more important role in the relationship than these criteria take into account, after all 9/11 was perpetrated by non-governmental actors. However, parameters for analyzing the relationship must be set and ultimately it is not the relationship between NGO s that is being examined but rather the relationship between two sovereign states. The impact of NGO s will therefore be measured by how their actions influence governments. Based on these three criteria, key elements of the relationship have been identified and will be used to conduct the analysis of the paper. The elements are: foreign policy, oil, security, development and modernization. Each of these four elements fit the established criteria. Together these key elements represent the bulk of the interaction between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Closely examining each of these elements, pre and post September 11, will reveal how it has been affected by the attacks and give a good indication of the current status of the relationship. There is one more aspect of this analysis that needs to be addressed in this section and that is the weight given to each key element. The weight associated with an element addresses how relevant that element is to the special relationship. If that element were to be found irrevocably damaged could the relationship survive? Or conversely, if an element where strengthened could it hold the relationship together? This paper is not assuming that all these identified elements are weighted equally but rather how these elements are weighted define the status of the relationship. The common assumption is that of these key elements; foreign policy, oil, security and development, oil carries the most weight followed by security, foreign policy and then

22 18 development. Given this paper s premise, that the unique method of Saudi development played and continues to play a more important role in the relationship than commonly acknowledged, development is going to be given the greatest weight. For this paper the presentation of these elements in order of importance will be development, oil, security and foreign policy. It is left to the body of the paper to justify these assumptions.

23 19 Chapter One: Origins of the U.S.-Saudi Relationship Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is a desert country comprised of 865, 000 square miles of the most barren land on earth. Traditionally the area is broken into four geographical regions. The Hijaz and Asir which border the Red Sea, the Najd which makes up most of the heart of the Arabian Peninsula and the Eastern Providence of Al-Hasa which stretches along the Arabian Gulf. At the beginning of World War I the Arabian Peninsula was run by warring tribal leaders under the sphere of influence of the ailing Ottoman Empire. To an outsider it appeared that life had changed very little since Biblical times but by the end of the war nothing would be the same again. The story of modern Saudi Arabia begins with a man named, Abd al-aziz bin Abd al-rahman Al Saud (Ibn Saud) whose desire to regain control of and unite his family s ancient tribal territory led to the creation of a new kingdom. For centuries two tribes, the Al-Rashid and the House of Saud had been in a continual battle for dominance of this desert peninsula. Then on the night of January 15, 1902, as if in a tale right out of the Arabian Nights, a small band of twenty-three men led by Ibn Saud captured Riyadh, the Saud s ancient capital which they had lost to the Rashid s before Ibn Saud s birth. Ibn Saud caught the fleeing Amir from behind as he bent to pass through the wicket and wrestled him to the ground. Desperately, the fallen man lashed out with a kick that caught Ibn Saud in the groin doubling him in pain. Thus freed, Ajlan again ran to the wicket. As he bent low to go through it Ibn Jiluwi threw his spear with tremendous force, but missed All pursued the fugitives most of whom sought refuge in the guard

24 20 room not far from the gate. Ibn Jiluwi caught up with Ajlan and cut him down. 26 The Al-Sauds and the Al-Rashids had been fighting for dominance in the Peninsula for centuries. For years the Al-Sauds were plagued with internal tribal rivalry. The Al-Rashids seized the opportunity created by this weakness within the Al- Sauds to conquer their territory so that by the time of Ibn Saud s childhood nothing remained of the ancestral Saud family empire. Ibn Saud spent his childhood with his family in exile in Kuwait which was under the suzerainty of the Turks. During his youth in Kuwait the future king dreamed of uniting the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula and restoring the Saud s ancestral empire, the empire that his great grandfather, along with the religious reformer Mohammed ibn Adbul-Wahhab, had founded. The taking of Riyadh was the first of many battles that spanned the next thirty years as Ibn Saud re-conquered the territory that is now Saudi Arabia. Ibn Saud lost no time in consolidating his control of Riyadh and the surrounding villages. Now he needed to extend his control to the entire region. In1912 Ibn Saud was surrounded by enemies; to the north the Al-Rashid, to the east the Turks, to the West the Sharif of Mecca. In his favor, he had the support of the ulema, the powerful and influential clerics of the Peninsula. It was the ulema who organized the Bedu into religious warriors, the Ikhwan, who would be instrumental in helping Ibn Saud conquer the Peninsula. By the end of 1912 Ibn Saud had consolidated his power in the Najd and looked East towards the towns of Hofuf and Damman, both under Turkish patronage, for new 26 Nestor, Sander. Ibn Saud King by Conquest. Hats Off Books, Pg 11.

25 21 territorial gains. In May of 1913 Ibn Saud invaded the Eastern Province and pushed his territory all the way to the Arabian Gulf. His territory was now large enough that he felt he needed backing from a major power. Without the backing of a world power Ibn Saud knew he would have neither a supply of weapons nor a steady income and probably would not be able to hold on to his new territory. His first choice was Great Britain but attempts to secure British protection proved fruitless. He knew that without British protection he risked a backlash from the Turkish Empire and the tribes which it supported. So, in an attempt to avoid retaliation he sent several messages to the Turks expressing his subservience and loyalty at the same time pointing out that he had only retaken what was originally his families 27 Ibn Saud made a deal with the Turks. He was named Wali, or ruler, of the Najd and given military aid and Turkish weapons. In exchange Ibn Saud agreed not to conduct foreign affairs or grant concessions to any third party. He also pledged to provide troops should the Ottoman Empire come under attack. Essentially, he had become a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Then the world was embroiled in World War I and Great Britain declared war on the Ottoman Empire. With England no longer worried about honoring the Ottoman s sphere of influence, Ibn Saud finally found a willing ally in the great European power. On December 16, 1915 Ibn Saud signed the Anglo-Saudi Treaty which recognized him as the ruler of the Najd and Al-Hasa including all their dependencies and he received money and weapons. In exchange Ibn Saud agreed to halt aggression towards other 27 Ibid, pg 29.

26 22 English protectorates and not to enter into another treaty with a foreign power. He was now on the side of the Allies in the Great War, he had abandoned his former protector. The Treaty with the British served Ibn Saud well throughout the war and kept a steady flow of wealth coming into his small territory. But after the war Britain began to lose interest in the desert nations and their warring tribal ways. Soon the brief unity between the warring desert tribes established during World War I dissolved and they went back to their centuries old tradition of fighting one another. By this time internal struggle within the Al-Rashids had made the family weak. This gave Ibn Saud the opportunity he needed to expand his territory into the Ha il region of the peninsula. By conquering the Ha il and demanding allegiance from the Al- Rashids he would effectively dominate his old enemy and restore his ancestral empire. So in August of 1921 Ibn Saud s soldiers laid siege to the Al-Rashid s last strong hold. On 1 November they surrendered and swore allegiance to Ibn Saud. 28 Ibn Saud now controlled the Ha il, the Najd and the Al-Hasa regions of the peninsula. His territories now bordered Kuwait, Iraq and Trans-Jordan, all British protectorates, forcing that great colonial power to take note. They were forced to recognize his control of the peninsula and they sent a delegation to determine borders between the Britain protectorates of Kuwait and Iraq and Ibn Saud s territory. These borders are still in place today. By 1924 World War I was long over and Britain decided to no longer subsidize Ibn Saud which meant he urgently needed to find new sources of revenue. He began looking at the Hejaz. The Hejaz was one of the most important areas of the desert 28 Al-Racheed, Madawi. A History of Saudi Arabia. Cambridge University Press, Pg 43.

27 23 because the ruler of the Hejaz controlled both Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities of the Muslim faith. This territory was owned by the Sharif of Mecca. Saud knew that if he could control this region he would be at the center of Islam and he, Ibn Saud, would be in charge of guarding Islam s two holiest sites with all the status and power that entailed. He would not only have the prestige of controlling the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina but the income derived from the pilgrims visiting the holy cities would provide a steady source of revenue. Finally, after two years of bloody battles and long sieges, in January of 1926 the Sharif was forced to flee the Arabian Peninsula. Ibn Saud now added the Hejaz to his territorial holdings. By 1927 Ibn Saud controlled almost the entire Arabian Peninsula and Great Britain recognized Ibn Saud as ruler of the territory. The two nations signed the Treaty of Jeddah which was to be, valid for seven years, the treaty recognized the complete independence of the Saudi State and formally accepted the frontier lately established through protocol and negotiation. 29 Ibn Saud had not only united his ancestral lands, he had assured their independence from foreign colonial rule. For the next few years, the threat to Ibn Saud s reign would come from within the Kingdom. His religious warriors, the Ikhwan, had been brutal and effective conquerors of new territory but they were reluctant to respect the international treaties Ibn Saud had negotiated. They began criticizing the King. The most important criticism centered on his relations with Britain, the nature of the Kingship, the Islamic legitimacy of Ibn Saud s 29 Nestor, Sander. Ibn Saud King by Conquest. Hats Off Books, Pg 54.

28 24 taxes and his personal conduct Ibn Saud was also criticized for limiting the prospects of jihad against a whole range of groups, such as tribes in Iraq. 30 In 1928 when things looked like they were spinning out of control, Ibn Saud gathered the ulema together and gave a famous speech in which he asked the ulema to define the relationship between the ruler and the clergy. In this meeting he and the leading religious leaders defined the hierarchical structure of his new nation. The clerics were to be religious advisers to the king and would not set policy. From now on, they [the ulema] were confined to giving their opinions regarding matters of Islamic ritual and technological innovation of which the country would have no shortage in the coming years. 31 The Ikhwan warriors would not be as easy to control; and force would ultimately have to be used. In March of 1929 during the battle of Sibila, Ibn Saud launched an offensive attack against the rebellious Ikhwan. Many were forced to flee to neighboring Kuwait and Bahrain, both British protectorates. The British were afraid the presence of the Ikhwan would incite rebellion within their protectorates and so they deployed the Royal Air Force to help combat the rebellion. The last Ikhwan leaders surrendered to the British in Kuwait in This rebellion was the last serious challenge to Ibn Saud s rule in Saudi Arabia. By 1930 there was only one small part of the Arabian Peninsula that did not belong to Ibn Saud; the Asir. The Asir was still claimed by the Sheik of Yemen and in 30 Al-Racheed, Madawi. A History of Saudi Arabia. Cambridge University Press, Pg Ibid, pg. 68.

29 Ibn Saud annexed it. In three weeks of battle Ibn Saud s soldiers had conquered land all the way to the town of Hodeida, well within the territory of Yemen. The size of the territory and ease with which Ibn Saud s forces spread across Yemen quickly got the attention of Yemen s British protectorate. Not wanting to challenge a European power, a cease fire was called and formal boundaries between Saudi Arabia and Yemen were established. The territory of modern Saudi Arabia was complete. Ibn Saud had accomplished what many thought impossible, he had once more united the land of his ancestors and established an independent nation in the age of colonialism. Now all he had to do was build a modern state with a modern infrastructure out of warring tribes and in a barren desert. No small task. The nation over which Ibn Saud now reigned was in want of most of the trappings of modernity. Unlike most nations in this situation at the time, it would not become a colony nor would it depend on foreign aid but instead it would buy its way into the modern world. In 1930 Saudi Arabia was without an infrastructure. There were no modern roads, telephones or electric grid and no government bureaucracy. To put it plainly, Saudi Arabia had nothing. The very notion of what it took to make a modern nation was foreign to the Bedu way of life. The people over whom he reigned were hostile to innovation and largely opposed any foreign presence [.] 32 It would be up to Ibn Saud and his sons to find a way to make Bedu traditions work in a twentieth century world. But how and where would he learn all he had to know to make a modern country? 32 Lippman, Thomas W. Inside the Mirage: America s Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia. Westview Press, Pg 15.

30 26 In order to do the things necessary to build his nation he needed to find some country or company willing to help him without trying to control his country at the same time. Ibn Saud also knew he needed money and a steady source of it. Oil had been found in the neighboring country of Bahrain and the Saudi Arabian Eastern Province had similar geological features. Ibn Saud hoped U.S. oil and mining companies would be interested in developing any natural resources they might find in the Kingdom, providing a much needed source of revenue. Even though the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression, Standard Oil of California accepted the challenge to look for oil. Soon oil was discovered and the impoverished, barren country would be richer than anyone could have imagined. The United States Since September 19, 1796 when George Washington declared that, It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world. the United States had basically pursued a policy of isolationism. But in the twentieth century the U.S. found it increasingly hard to remain isolated. On April 6, 1917 Congress declared war on Germany and the U.S. entered World War I. The U.S. involvement in World War I was largely financial and concentrated on the European Front. To U.S. policy makers the Eastern Front and the Middle East were Britain s problem. However, even at the height of Middle Eastern colonization, Britain found nothing of great value in the Arab Peninsula and after the war let Ibn Saud rebuild his ancestral empire with little to no intervention. As a result the Arabian peninsula

31 27 remained virtually untouched, and American interests in that area were all but nonexistent. 33 On September 28, 1928 the Saudi Foreign Ministry let it be known that they wanted to pursue obtaining diplomatic relations with the United States but the Coolidge administration replied back, that the time was not right for giving an affirmative reply. 34 It would take until May of 1931 for the United States to fully recognize Ibn Saud s Kingdom. Even so, the United States did not assign Saudi Arabia its own foreign representative until Until that time the U.S. Legation in Cairo, Egypt handled all communication between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Alternatively, communication was handled through the California Arabian Oil Company (CASCO), which had owned a concession in Saudi Arabia since Thus, [t]he arrival of the first American minister to Saudi Arabia lagged behind the start of American commercial ties with that country by almost ten years. 35 When the economic depression of the 1930 s cut into Saudi Arabia s main economic means of support, the Muslim s annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Ibn Saud s good friend and advisor Karl Twitchell convinced the King that companies in the U.S. might be able to find valuable minerals or oil inside his Kingdom. So with Ibn Saud s permission Twitchell approached U.S. based oil companies about prospecting for oil inside the Kingdom. Despite the depression Standard Oil of California took up the 33 Chai, Winberg, ed. Saudi Arabia: A Modern Reader. Univercity of Indianpolis Press, Pg Ibid. Pg Ibid. Pg. 18.

32 28 challenge and sent their representative, Lloyd Hamilton, to Saudi Arabia to sign a concession agreement and he was armed with a new philosophy for industrialization. He was the spokesperson for a new kind of foreign development prepared to operate strictly as a business, and that in its self was revolutionary...absent also was the imperial conviction that commerce was possible in undeveloped countries only when tied to colonial administration. The United States government was so far from being involved in Hamilton s business that it didn t even have a representative in Saudi Arabia. 36 In 1938 CASCO found huge quantities of oil inside the Kingdom but Ibn Saud s money problems were not over. Before CASCO could build a solid infrastructure to get the oil out of the ground and to the world market, World War II broke out. The war stopped the shipment of vital building supplies and commercial shipping to the Kingdom was interrupted squelching progress in the fledging enterprise. Saud tried to keep the expansion going by declaring neutrality but America considered ensuring the support of the Middle East Britain s job and did not want to get involved in what was still considered the British sphere. The United States denied the requests of both Ibn Saud and CASCO for monetary assistance to keep the country and the oil company afloat as late as But as the war progressed Franklin Roosevelt and his administration began to take a greater interest in this oil rich nation and cared less for the potential diplomatic issues pursuing a relationship with the Kingdom might cause with Britain. In 1942 Roosevelt felt it was time for the United States to set up a permanent legation in Saudi Arabia and in 1943 increased interest in using Saudi air space persuaded him to 36 Stegner, Wallace. Discovery! The Search for Arabian Oil. California: Selwa Press, Pg 4-5. Chapter 3

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