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Saudi Arabia
Relations with the United States
Although Saudi Arabia and the United States obviously did not
share any borders, the kingdom's relationship with Washington
was the cornerstone of its foreign policy as well as its regional
security policy. The special relationship with the United States
actually dated to World War II. By the early 1940s, the extent
of Saudi oil resources had become known, and the United States
petroleum companies that held the concession to develop the oil
fields were urging Washington to assume more responsibility for
security and political stability in the region. Consequently,
in 1943 the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that
the defense of Saudi Arabia was a vital interest to the United
States and dispatched the first United States military mission
to the kingdom. In addition to providing training for the Saudi
army, the United States Army Corps of Engineers constructed the
airfield at Dhahran and other facilities. In early 1945, Abd al
Aziz and Roosevelt cemented the nascent alliance in a meeting
aboard a United States warship in the Suez Canal. Subsequently,
Saud, Faisal, Khalid, and Fahd continued their father's precedent
of meeting with United States presidents.
The United States-Saudi security relationship steadily expanded
during the Cold War. This process was facilitated by the shared
suspicions of Riyadh and Washington regarding the nature of the
Soviet threat to the region and the necessity of containing Soviet
influence. As early as 1947, the administration of Harry S. Truman
formally assured Abd al Aziz that support for Saudi Arabia's territorial
integrity and political independence was a primary objective of
the United States. This commitment became the basis for the 1951
mutual defense assistance agreement. Under this agreement, the
United States provided military equipment and training for the
Saudi armed forces. An important provision of the bilateral pact
authorized the United States to establish a permanent United States
Military Training Mission in the kingdom. This mission still operated
in Saudi Arabia in 1992.
The United States-Saudi relationship endured despite strains
caused by differences over Israel. Saudi Arabia had not become
reconciled to the 1948 establishment of Israel in the former Arab-dominated
territory of Palestine and refused to extend Israel diplomatic
recognition or to engage in any form of relations with Israel
(see Cooperation with the United States , ch. 5). Despite this
position, Riyadh acknowledged that its closest ally, the United
States, had a special relationship with Israel. After the June
1967 War, however, Saudi Arabia became convinced that Israel opposed
Riyadh's strong ties with Washington and wanted to weaken them.
During the 1970s and 1980s, periodic controversies over United
States arms sales to the kingdom tended to reinforce Saudi concerns
about the extent of political influence that supporters of Israel
wielded in Washington. In several instances congressional leaders
opposed United States weapons sales on the grounds that the Saudis
might use them against Israel. Despite assurances from Saudi officials
that the weapons were necessary for their country's defense, Congress
reduced or canceled many proposed arms sales. Although the debates
over Saudi weapons purchases were between the United States legislature
and the executive branch, these political contests embittered
Saudis and had an adverse impact on overall relations. From a
Saudi perspective, the public policy disputes among United States
leaders seemed to symbolize a weakening of the United States commitment
to defend the kingdom's security.
Saudi uneasiness about United States resolve was assuaged by
the United States response to the crisis unleashed by Iraq's invasion
and occupation of Kuwait. In this ultimate test of the United
States-Saudi security relationship, Washington dispatched more
than 400,000 troops to the kingdom to ward off potential aggression.
This was not the first time that United States forces had been
stationed on Saudi soil. The huge Dhahran Air Base had been used
by the United States Air Force from 1946 to 1962. In 1963, President
John F. Kennedy had ordered a squadron of fighters to Saudi Arabia
to protect the kingdom from Egyptian air assaults. In 1980 President
Jimmy Carter loaned four sophisticated airborne warning and control
system (AWACS) aircraft and their crews to Saudi Arabia to monitor
developments in the Iran-Iraq War. However, the presence of United
States and other foreign forces prior to and during the Persian
Gulf War was of an unprecedented magnitude. Despite the size of
the United States and allied contingents, the military operations
ran relatively smoothly. The absence of major logistical problems
was due in part to the vast sums that Saudi Arabia had invested
over the years to acquire weapons and equipment, construct modern
military facilities, and train personnel.
After the war, Saudi Arabia again faced the prospect of congressional
opposition to its requests for weapons. Riyadh believed that it
cooperation in the war against Iraq demonstrated the legitimacy
of its defense requirements. Nevertheless, the United States informed
Saudi officials that Saudi Arabia's request to purchase US$20
billion of United States military equipment probably would not
win the required approval of Congress. Riyadh reluctantly agreed
to an administration proposal to revise its request into two or
three separate packages, which would be submitted in consecutive
years. This process tended to erode the positive feelings created
during the war and revive Saudi resentments about being treated
as a less than equal ally.
Data as of December 1992
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