The end of special relationships between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia?

Abstract

The Saudi special relationships with the U.S., unlike that of the U.S. with Israel, are mutually beneficial. Saudi Arabia sells about 10 million barrels of oil a day and all those transactions are denominated in American dollars, which helps that currency to perform the role of the currency of account (world, s currency) and has been of crucial help to the American ambition to dominate the global economy. On the other hand the United States did its part to uphold the relationship be granting the security to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil states. This was demonstrated for example in 1990 during Iraqi attack on Kuwait, that also menaced Saudi Arabia. At that time the U.S. deployed 400,000 troops in Saudi Arabia and expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait. The priority of American foreign policy in that region has been to keep Gulf oil in friendly hands. Since the increase of the production of shale oil in the United States that priority has been less important. Another factor which has exerted an influence on the nature of the U.S.-Saudi relationship was the signing the permanent agreement with Iran in July 2015 on the limitation of the Iranian nuclear program and normalization of political-economic rela-tions with the West. This has led to further worsening of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia alliance which has always been like a ”marriage of convenience ”where behind the façade of friendship and harmony there is cold calcula-tion of benefits and losses. That alliance will last as long as the potential benefits will still be bigger than possible losses.