It is essential to examine the context when the United States and
Saudi Arabia stroke their alliance to understand how the two countries
have created mutual dependence. At least two dimensions merit
consideration: first of all, the United States was determined to protect
what would become of vital interest – Saudi super-giant oil fields.
Secondly, the benefits of the alliance go far beyond economic
considerations as establishing ties with Middle-Eastern countries
allowed the Americans to counter Soviet influence and gain a foothold in
the region.
The unwritten rules of the alliance
The oil discovery and energy dependency Ibn Saud was the king of a poor and desert country and needed more than the revenues from the Muslim pilgrimage – the Hajj – to set up and ensure his legitimacy. As the United States was not the colonial threat Great Britain and France were for Saudi independence, he rent out its lands for exploration to the Gulf Oil Company, a small American company which sold its shares to the Standard Oil of California in 1933.
The first drops of oil were found in May 1938 in Damman. But, due to the Second World War, real exploitation would not start before the mid-1940s, when the California Arab Standard Oil was renamed Arabian American Oil Company – ARAMCO. For both the United States and the Kingdom, this discovery was a blessing.
At that time, the US economy was quickly developing and needed fuel to thrive. Also, the United States was broadly perceived as a savior because of its role in this war, then not as a potential threat. Contrary to some of its neighbors – Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain – the discovery of oil fields in Saudi Arabia took place a few years later. It probably helped this country to develop bilateral relations with the United States without the coercion of the former colonial powers2 .
From 1945, the new threat embodied by the Soviet Union justified US involvement in world political and economic affairs. And, the US administration was persuaded the oil fields found would probably expend further beneath the Arabian Peninsula. Then, the region had to be protected against the Soviet expansion.
This supplier-consumer relation was consolidated on 14 February 1945 by the pact between Ibn Saud and the US president F.D. Roosevelt on board USS Quincy, in the Suez Canal. The Quincy pact At that time, “ARAMCO had been the largest single American investment in any foreign country ”.
QUINCY PACT:
The Oil-for-Security Deal : By 1945, the U.S. urgently needs oil facilities to help supply forces fighting in the Second World War. Meanwhile, security is at the forefront of King Abd al-Aziz's concerns. President Franklin Roosevelt invites the king to meet him aboard the U.S.S. Quincy, docked in the Suez Canal. The two leaders cement a secret oil-for-security pact: The king guarantees to give the U.S. secure access to Saudi oil and in exchange the U.S. will provide military assistance and training to Saudi Arabia and build the Dhahran military base.
Also discussed at the meeting is the issue of creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine. King Abd al-Aziz acknowledges the plight of the Jews, but argues taking part of Palestine is unfair to the Palestinians. In a letter to the king that Roosevelt sends after their meeting, the president writes: "I will take no action which might prove hostile to the Arab people." But Roosevelt dies shortly after sending this letter and Vice President Harry Truman becomes president.
REFFRENCES
“Highlights of the Third OPEC Summit”, video, OPEC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 17-
18, 2007
http://www.opec.org/home/Multimedia/videos/2007/3rd%20OPEC%20Summit/3SummitHighlights.htm
Georges H.W. BUSH, “Toward a New World Order”. Speech given to a joint session of the
United States Congress, Washington D.C. on 11 September 1990,
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Toward_a_New_World_Order
IRIS
The unwritten rules of the alliance
The oil discovery and energy dependency Ibn Saud was the king of a poor and desert country and needed more than the revenues from the Muslim pilgrimage – the Hajj – to set up and ensure his legitimacy. As the United States was not the colonial threat Great Britain and France were for Saudi independence, he rent out its lands for exploration to the Gulf Oil Company, a small American company which sold its shares to the Standard Oil of California in 1933.
The first drops of oil were found in May 1938 in Damman. But, due to the Second World War, real exploitation would not start before the mid-1940s, when the California Arab Standard Oil was renamed Arabian American Oil Company – ARAMCO. For both the United States and the Kingdom, this discovery was a blessing.
At that time, the US economy was quickly developing and needed fuel to thrive. Also, the United States was broadly perceived as a savior because of its role in this war, then not as a potential threat. Contrary to some of its neighbors – Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain – the discovery of oil fields in Saudi Arabia took place a few years later. It probably helped this country to develop bilateral relations with the United States without the coercion of the former colonial powers2 .
From 1945, the new threat embodied by the Soviet Union justified US involvement in world political and economic affairs. And, the US administration was persuaded the oil fields found would probably expend further beneath the Arabian Peninsula. Then, the region had to be protected against the Soviet expansion.
This supplier-consumer relation was consolidated on 14 February 1945 by the pact between Ibn Saud and the US president F.D. Roosevelt on board USS Quincy, in the Suez Canal. The Quincy pact At that time, “ARAMCO had been the largest single American investment in any foreign country ”.
QUINCY PACT:
The Oil-for-Security Deal : By 1945, the U.S. urgently needs oil facilities to help supply forces fighting in the Second World War. Meanwhile, security is at the forefront of King Abd al-Aziz's concerns. President Franklin Roosevelt invites the king to meet him aboard the U.S.S. Quincy, docked in the Suez Canal. The two leaders cement a secret oil-for-security pact: The king guarantees to give the U.S. secure access to Saudi oil and in exchange the U.S. will provide military assistance and training to Saudi Arabia and build the Dhahran military base.
Also discussed at the meeting is the issue of creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine. King Abd al-Aziz acknowledges the plight of the Jews, but argues taking part of Palestine is unfair to the Palestinians. In a letter to the king that Roosevelt sends after their meeting, the president writes: "I will take no action which might prove hostile to the Arab people." But Roosevelt dies shortly after sending this letter and Vice President Harry Truman becomes president.
REFFRENCES
“Highlights of the Third OPEC Summit”, video, OPEC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 17-
18, 2007
http://www.opec.org/home/Multimedia/videos/2007/3rd%20OPEC%20Summit/3SummitHighlights.htm
Georges H.W. BUSH, “Toward a New World Order”. Speech given to a joint session of the
United States Congress, Washington D.C. on 11 September 1990,
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Toward_a_New_World_Order
IRIS
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