Although the United Sates and Saudi Arabia present the United States and Saudi Arabia’s relationship as excellent, there are actually two nations who have bitter disagreements but who allies through oil. The only thing that has held this alliance together is the US dependence on Saudi oil. The United States has felt and still fells that it is a necessity to have bases present in the Middle East to protect oil, and silently to protect Israel. The relationship began in 1933 when Standard Oil of California signed an agreement with the Saudi government. In 1943 FDR affirmed that the defense of Saudi Arabia was a vital interest to the United States and moved troops into the region. Future presidents would emulate this declaration and mobilization of troops to Saudi Arabia. Again in 1945 Abd al Aziz, the Saudi king, and FDR would cement this alliance, on a US warship in the Suez Canal. Soon after, airfields were constructed at Dhahran and other spots over Saudi Arabia; beginning a long tradition of US military facilities in Saudi Arabia. Abd al Aziz was the first of his line of successors to meet with US presidents. The relationship was only strengthened with the onset on the Cold war, as the US used the bases in Saudi Arabia as potential air force launch sites to the USSR and constructed more military facilities. In 1941 Harry S. Truman made another assertion of Americas protection and alliance with Saudi Arabia to Abd Al Aziz. Truman stated that “support for Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity and political independence was a primary objective of the United States.” (Countrystudies.com) Another stipulation of this pact was that the US established a permanent military training mission in the Saudi Arabia. That mission lasted until 1992. Soon after the pact between Truman and Aziz was agreed upon the US-Saudi relationship would endure its first major disagreement. On May 14th, 1948 Israel was declared an independent state in the former Arab dominated Palestine. Israel’s independence was backed the United States. Saudi Arabia refused to acknowledge the country of Israel and to engage in any relations with them. The Saudis concerns of the Israel-US relationship were reinforced in the 1970’s and 1980’s when the US sold arms to Israel, but refused to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. In some cases congressional leaders refused to sell arms to Saudi Arabia on the grounds that Saudi Arabia might use them against Israel.
U.S. policymakers then began to focus on Mideast oil in 1943 and began to make decisions about whether or not the venture would work in the long run economically. However there was also another superpower that had their eye on the Middle East and its rich foundation of oil. The British began also to desire concessions in the Middle East and to become a contender in the race towards power. This competition caused problems between the two countries and in 1944 the countries attempted to form an agreement however, this agreement failed because of the opposition in the United States senate.
The relations between the U.S and the Middle East are strained at best. The troops deployed in the area face constant threat of attack by a militant group. These broken relations between the U.S and the Middle East started over 50 years ago, with the Iran Hostage Crisis. Root causes of the crisis were many. One was U.S greed over oil in Iran. The second, the coup in Iran organized and funded by the CIA. The U.S dependence on foreign oil is another cause of the problems. Lastly, should the U.S stop moving into other countries sovereign lands and trying to “Prevent the evil of communism”, the nation would not have so many problems around the world. This worry was even shown in Iran (Kinzer, 10). While often blamed on radicals, the strained relations between the U.S and the Middle East are a direct result of a poor US foreign policy.
Cuba's Relations with the United States In the early 1900’s, Cuba was a stomping ground for many of the rich and famous from the United States. Many famous movies stars and wealthy business entrepreneurs spend their vacations there along with a substantial amount of money. Trade and commerce between the United States and Cuba flowed freely and abundantly. Even with the Dictatorship-like regime of Batista, the countries benefited from the economic trade between them. This was all about to come crashing down as revolts against Batista occurred and Fidel Castro came to power within Cuba.
American settlers in East and West Florida declare independence and rebel against Spain for control of land.
The Middle East has historically rebuked Western influence during their process of establishing independence. When Britain and France left the Middle East after World War II, the region saw an unprecedented opportunity to establish independent and self-sufficient states free from the Western influence they had felt for hundreds of years. In an attempt to promote nationalistic independence, the states of the region immediately formed the League of Arab States in 1945. The League recognized and promoted the autonomy of its members and collaborated in regional opposition against the West until 1948 when Israel declared independence. Israel represented then and now an intrusive Western presence in the Arab world. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict typifies this cultural antagonism. The Cold War refocused attention to the Middle East as a site of economic and strategic importance for both sides, yet the two hegemons of the Cold War now needed to recognize the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern states. With their statehood and power cemented, the Middle Easte...
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country with a history of political dynamic. It was started from Jahaliyah age until now. There are some histories about political asylum in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of Arabic Royal family is concerned. In 2012, one of the daughters of Saudi Arabia that also is the grandson of the founder of the country. Princess Sarah bint Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reportedly asked for asylum to the United ...
?US Challenges and Choices Saudi Arabia: A View from the Inside,? The Atlantic Council of the United States, The Middle East Institute, The Middle East Policy Council, and The Stanley Foundation, <http://reports.stanleyfdn.org/EFCgulfh02.pdf> (May 31, 2004).
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries in the Middle East. It occupies the Arabian Peninsula in the southwest of Asia. It is bounded by the Arabian Gulf, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to the East; Yemen and Oman on the South; Red Sea and Gulf of Al-Aqaba to the West; and Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the North. Its area is about 2,240,000 square kilometers and has a population of seventeen million people according to the last census performed in 1993. Saudi Arabia is considered a developing country. It has been developing at a relatively fast rate since it was established as modern state in 1932. Its population increases about 3.8% per year. Saudi Arabia remains a very conservative society combining strong traditions with a strict interpretation of Islam (Al- Rasheed pp6). However, the discovery of oil in the Saudi desert territories has made it necessary for the country to quickly modernize in order to fully benefit from the resource. Large oil deposits were discovered in 1938 making Saudi Arabia the first oil-exporting country in the world. Oil revenues resulted in drastic changes in the society, especially during the past 30 years. Oil provided the Saudi state with extraordinary wealth to build the economic and material infrastructure of the country, transforming the state into a rapidly modernizing landscape. These changes have influenced the social and economic aspects of life, including the field of education. (Al-Gahtany, 2001, p.14). Oil wealth has enabled the state to make great achievements in the fields of education, technology, health, and material affluence, benefitting the people of Saudi Arabia (Al- Rasheed p.12). In celebratin...
While living in Saudi Arab is quite different then living in America because both countries culture are very different then each other. While living in Saudi Arab, we used to visit our relatives and spend more time with our families. I live there with my parents. I do not have to bear my expense. My father takes all the big decisions for the family whereas my mother take the decision of house like what to cook, how to decorate the house, what furniture should be used, etc.
Official diplomatic relations between modern India and Saudi Arabia were established shortly after India gained independence in 1947. Relations between the two c...
Being Saudi Arabian is to be faithful and authentic to one important religion symbol of Islam which is being believer of Allah but no one else and being the believer that Mohammed is the prophet of Allah, which is considered very essential aspect of the culture. Saudi Arabians are the people who have strong affiliation and loyalty to the authentic, generous, wise Arab tribes who settled in the Arabian Peninsula many years ago. In addition, being Saudi Arabian represents being loyal to the country that fully contributed to provide free healthcare, education, and public services for the citizens. Saudi Arabians are the people who care and help others when they face any life disasters. The Saudi Arabians have many symbols that represent them. First, the date tree is an important symbol of the culture, which represents them as the glorious and authentic people who serve dates besides Arabic coffee together in celebrating any special occasion such as family gatherings, weddings, and funerals. The date tree also represents them as the people who always give to their families, and community...
Firstly, US strategic interests in the Middle East are challenged by Iranian ambitions to dominate the region. Iran is hardly involved in interventions of the domestic affairs of other Arab states, through establishing or supporting some Shiite groups, in terms of promoting the regional policies of Iran. Furthermore, despite geopolitical and economic prev...
The Oil continues being the most important regional and global issue. Some estimates show that by 2050 80% of Middle Eastern oil will be distributed to the U.S creating control of pipelines through Afghanistan or turkey increasing the importance of the Middle East to the United States. The globalization effects many different parts of the Middle east in Different ways, Economically the Arab countries also Iran, apart from the international oil markets and their side effects, have come across many difficulties then turkey and Israel in integrating into the global economy. In 1948 after a difficult start of state establishment Israel’s economy has become the economy’s rising star for the Middle
world because of this there a very wealthy country. (Saudi Arabia is also the largest
...s the Arabs’ nightmare. In 1973, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria decided to fight against Israel to revenge Arabs’ defeat which was in 1967. The plan was that Egypt and Syria would battle by the military while Saudi Arabia would use oil as a weapon. The result was Saudi Arabia stopped supplying oil to the USA. It took a while to settle the conflicts down. Eventually, the relationship was rehabilitated.