Current Research
Gulf States: American spheres of influence, the case of Saudi Arabia
Ines Ward
Research assistant trainee at CERMAM
The relation between Saudi Arabia and the United States has always been seen as a controversial one. Why does a country like the US who wants to promote democracy and freedom in the Middle East ally itself with Saudi Arabia, known for its violation of human rights and more recently as a nest for extremism and terrorism? And why does Saudi Arabia, whose constitution is the Koran, who is the keeper of the holy cities of Medina and Mecca, and who practices an extreme version of Sunnisme called Wahhabism; ally itself with these American infidels? Well the answer is not new and can be summarised in the following manner: oil for protection.
What interests us more particularly is the military dependency of the Saudis on the Americans. Why and how are they helped by the States? The Saudi Kingdom has faced many kinds of threats such as Arab Nationalism or the Iranian Revolution. We are going to look into them more in detail. This study will go as far as the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks.
It all began on February 14th 1945. On that day, President Roosevelt and his Majesty King Abdul Azziz Ibn Saud met onboard the USS Quincy in the Red Sea, to discuss military and energy concerns. In exchange for exclusive access to Saudi oil, Roosevelt would provide the Saudis with military aid and set up an Air Base in Dahran. The US already had dealings with the Saudi Family obtaining the first Saudi oil concession in 1933 for what was to become ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company), and granting them urgent financial help. Following World War II, King Abdul Azziz was in urgent need of an ally and the Americans seemed the best possible partner. The King had conquered his kingdom with the help of loyal tribesmen and religious fighters called the Ikhwan. But once the Kingdom was declared in 1932, the tribesmen went back to their daily lives and the Ikwan revolted against the King when told to stop their Jihad. They were surpressed. By 1945 the King had very few men left to defend his vast kingdom. But there was another pressing matter. In 1924, Ibn Saud kicked the Hashemite family out of the Holy Cities and conquered the Hedjaz region. Just a year before, the British had created two States for the Hashemite family that neighboured Ibn Saud’s land, Iraq and Transjordan. The King was militarily weak and feared the Hashemites’ irredentism, who in his eyes were backed by the British. It was only natural to turn to the Americans who were winning the War.
This relationship underwent its first strain just two years later in 1947, when the US backed the creation of a Jewish State in Transjordan, in the UN General Assembly resolution n° 181. This unleashed a fury in the Arab World which also overtook Saudi Arabia, and in 1948 the Arab League declared war on Israel. But despite threatening to take action against ARAMCO, Abdul Azziz did nothing. The creation of Israel, although morally unacceptable, did not constitute a menace to him. It was more urgent to conserve US military support, in the wake of growing communism which could topple his Kingdom. Three years later, the US signed a Mutual Defence Agreement with the new King Saud Ibn Abdul Azziz. In exchange Saudi Arabia would prolong the lease on Dhahran for an additional five years.
Collaboration between both countries reached a new level in the following years, to counter the growing tide of Arab Nationalism. Initially King Saud was an admirer of Gamal Abdel Nasser, like the rest of the Arab World. Yet after the 1956 Suez Crisis and the growing Soviet influence in Egypt, he changed his mind. Saudi Arabia and the US have a common enemy in Communism, and united together in 1957 to implement the Eisenhower Doctrine, which promised a deployment of US troops to countries threatened by Communism. King Saud also received military assistance worth 180 Million dollars as well as military equipment. Yet Nationalism continued spreading in Syria and Iraq, both becoming Republics in 1958. Iraq funded anti-Saudi freedom movements in Saudi Arabia. But the real confrontation took place in Yemen where Egypt and Saudi Arabia fought a proxy war, each party defending a side in the Yemen Civil War. The threat of Nationalism only started subsiding when Nasser was defeated by Israel in the 1967 War.
A major change took place in 1971 with the British withdrawal from the Persian Gulf. It left a power vacuum which many countries were eager to fill, and tiny wars which before were unthinkable, occurred. Yemen bombarded Saudi Arabia and even invaded the frontier town of Wadia. Iraq signed a Friendship treaty with the Soviet Union to protect itself. The Americans under Nixon put in place the two pillar doctrine, Iran under the Shah assured stability and protection in the Gulf, and Saudi Arabia provided financial assistance. Together both countries would keep at bay the threat of Communism. The 1973 oil embargo did little to damage relations between the Saudis and the Americans. King Faysal secretly delivered oil to the US Navy in Vietnam, and later contributed to bring down oil prices. His successor King Khaled was rewarded the following year with two multimillion dollar contracts to modernise his army and a 650 million dollar economic cooperation agreement. All through the 1970’s, trade and financial ties grew between both countries. It is estimated that Saudi Arabia bought military equipment worth 34 billion dollars during the 1970s.
But the events of 1979 upset the fragile status quo in the Persian Gulf. On a minor scale, the storming of the Great Mosque of Mecca in November showed the weakness of Saudi troops, as they had to request foreign intervention. But it was the Iranian revolution that changed everything. The country that was in charge of assuring the stability of the Persian Gulf was now exporting revolution. That the Shah could be overthrown by religious extremists came as a choc for the Saudi family, they were not immune. But it was the support of their Shiite population for the revolution that made them tremble. The Shiites lived in the oil rich Hasa region and worked in the petrol industry. They had no political rights and were not even allowed to pray publicly, because Wahhabism considers them as heretics. This Shiite threat forced Saudi Arabia and Iraq to put aside their differences and join together against Iran. When Iraq fought Iran in the 1980s, Saudi Arabia was there to pay for the expenses. In total the Kingdom is said to have paid 25.7 billion dollars to Iraq. In 1988, Saudi Arabia and Iran broke all diplomatic ties and the ayatollahs continued questioning the rights of the Saudi family to protect the Holy Cities. The Americans, to reassure their Arab ally, put in place the Carter Doctrine: « American Military Forces will be used to gain control over the Persian Gulf region, and any assault on the Gulf will be regarded as an assault on the Vital Interests of the United States ».
Relations continued tense with Iran until the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990. This came as a surprise to the Saudis, as Kuwait was one of Iraq’s allies during the war against Iran. But surprise turned to fear as for the first time the Kingdom was confronted with a real threat of invasion. Saddam Hussein’s tanks were just at the Saudi border. The tragic element was the Saudis’ admittance of their weakness; despite having spent billions of dollars on sophisticated military equipment they were unable to deal with an army that had just undergone 8 years of war. The Saudis had to ask their American allies to intervene. 150’000 American soldiers arrived in Saudi Arabia, the launching pad of operation Desert Storm. Following the success of this war, Saudi Arabia focused on reducing its military vulnerability. The Kingdom had an estimated 165’000 soldiers in the 1990s which is not enough to protect its vast borders, instead it has to rely on its Air Power. King Fahd also spent a third of his budget on military expenditures. Thanks to the guarantee of US support, the 1990s were a peaceful period compared to previous decades. Saudi Arabia resumed relations with Iran in 1991 and they even signed an economic cooperation agreement in 1998. There was a border dispute with Yemen which was resolved with a Peace treaty in 2000.
The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 were a big blow to the US-Saudi relationship. Fourteen of the nineteen hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Wahhabism became a real concern as it was viewed by the Americans as a nesting ground for the kind of religious extremism that had led to 9/11. Their confidence in their Arab ally was shaken. Prince Saud Al Faysal came to America and addressed himself directly to the American Congress in the hopes of mending relations between both countries. It seems that since this historic low, relations have been improving, especially in domains like the fight against terrorism.
This relation is ancient, stable and has proved itself many times. So long as the Americans need Saudi Oil, the Saudis can be sure of having their protection. So for the foreseeable future it seems both countries will continue to be allies.
Permanent link to this entry (permalink)
- Origin CERMAM
- http://www.cermam.org/en/logs/research/gulf_states_american_spheres_o/
- Publié le 3 December 2007