During his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, US President George W. Bush announced a major arms deal with Riyadh. The deal includes 900 sophisticated satellite-guided missiles, some of the most accurate produced by the US arms industry. The deal was approved despite strong opposition from Israel and its friends in the US Congress. It is part of a $20 billion arms sale intended to bolster military relations with Saudi Arabia and counter Iran's rising influence in the region. In exchange for this show of solidarity with the Saudis, Bush urged Riyadh to use its influence to reduce prices in the oil market, reviving in essence the old oil for security formula.
In fact, the oil for security formula has been the cornerstone in US-Saudi relations since the Second World War. It was agreed in 1945 at a meeting between King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, founder of Saudi Arabia, and US president Franklin Roosevelt aboard a US ship in the Mediterranean. Washington was interested in Saudi Arabia's anti-communist posture and its vast oil reserve. The Saudis, on the other hand, because of their country's vast territory, tiny population with notably weak armed forces and strong and ambitious neighbours, looked at the US for help and protection. As a consequence, a tacit alliance was built between the two countries; wherein the US assured Saudi Arabia security and protection in exchange for an uninterrupted oil supplies at reasonable prices.
Saudi Arabia's value for Washington substantially increased after the 1973 Arab oil embargo where oil emerged from being essentially a commercial-financial interest of American business and economic interests to become a significant component of the US national interest, affecting political and strategic interests and calculations of policy. In fact, after 1973, oil's security replaced the Soviet Union as Washington's preeminent concern.
US-Saudi relations developed further after the fall of the Shah's regime in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Reliance on Saudi Arabia increased during this period as the Nixon Doctrine, which determined US Middle Eastern policy for a decade-long was falling apart. Due to increasing domestic opposition to US military involvement in Vietnam, the Nixon Doctrine was devised in 1969 to limit US direct intervention abroad by building up regional allies to assume the role of defending US vital interests around the world. In the Middle East, the doctrine led to the emergence of proxy states (Israel and Iran). Iran's role as a regional policeman in the Gulf was contemplated when the British announced their intention to depart in the early 1970s. Israel's suitability to assume a similar role was enhanced when the Israelis co-operated to save the throne of King Hussain in Jordan during the 1970 crisis in which he was about to be overthrown by Syrian-backed Palestine Liberation Organisation fighters.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia's apparent enmity to Israel, its Islamic political order and its reluctance to initiate social, political and economic reforms made it extremely difficult for successive US administrations to convince the Congress, the media and the public of maintaining close ties with Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's anti-Western policies, such as the 1973 oil embargo, its financial support for the Arab front-line states against Israel and its opposition to the Israeli-Egyptian Camp David Accord made it even more difficult for policy-makers in Washington to justify their commitments to Saudi Arabia's security. Nevertheless, throughout the Cold War era American presidents maintained strong ties with Riyadh, frequently confronted the pro-Israel Congress and on certain occasions personally intervened in favour of enhancing the Kingdom's security through transferring some of the most sophisticated US-made arms.
In addition, despite Washington's early realisation that Islam could be used as a crucial element in the fight against communism particularly in 1979, US policy-makers came to relay heavily on Islam in its Saudi model to counteract Moscow's assertiveness.
Strong relations
Saudi Arabia was keen, on the other hand, to maintain strong relations with Washington. Hence, differences; such as Washington's excessive support for Israel and the Congress obsession with maintaining the regional balance of power tilted in favour of Tel Aviv were all ignored by Riyadh. Bush's first official visit to Saudi Arabia and the warm reception he was given in Riyadh aimed at reviving this 60-year alliance after the shock of 9/11.
Dr Marwan Kabalan is a lecturer in media and international relations, Faculty of Political Science and Media, Damascus University, Syria.
