- SAUDI ARABIA EFFECTIVELY CONTROLS WORLD OIL PRICES
- SAUDI ARABIA THRIVES ON US TECHNOLOGY IN MANY ASPECTS
- THE USA AND SAUDI ARABIA ARE STRATEGIC PARTNERS
- THE USA INFLUENCED SAUDI SOCIAL REFORMS
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States have economic/political/military ties based on mutual benefit. Actually they are strategic allies. Saudi Arabia, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an Arab state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four distinct regions namely, Hejaz, Najd, and parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa), and Southern Arabia (‘Asir).
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud. He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic doctrine.
The Kingdom cooperates with the US on the amount of oil production, to meet the demand and to keep the price and market stable when necessary. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has made huge investments in Western countries, and so by supporting Western countries and energy market stability, they are protecting their own interests as well as international order and stability. Almost all oil is traded in US dollars so the value of the US $ is increased. With all those dollars Saudi Arabia can afford to buy the latest expensive toys from America.
US supplies the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with advanced technologies including medical, agricultural and military equipment like missile defense systems and modern aircraft. It’s a win-win relation between two sovereign nations. They are allies and they trade as they should be.
WHY AMERICA PROTECTS THE KINGDOM
American protection is essential because Saudi Arabia is a good cash cow for the US. Its all about money and power. They can be good buyers for US made weapons and they also have a lot of oil resources. For the last decades, the US and Saudi Arabia have lived at the intersection of Money and Dominance. They have been trading politics with finances and exchanging expatriates .
Saudi Arabia and the United States share a strategic partnership that lasted for more than 75 years and has withstood all the ups and downs throughout history. No administration can really affect this partnership. Biden tried to go on the contrary during his campaign period but changed his rhetoric once he got to the White house and got briefed on confidential international security and economic affairs. This is how important and crucial the partnership has become.
The US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that Saudi Arabia is a “strategic partner in the region, and we have security commitments, so we are going to have to work together to achieve our objectives”. The two countries are essentially symbiotic in nature. They need each other, but the US has a lot of leverage. The US needs Saudi Arabia less than vice versa. The US can live without Saudi Arabia but Saudi Arabia can not live without US support, including its purchase of oil. The US is the sole supplier of weaponry to the Saudi. As the British before WW II, today the US is giving strong support in global politics to the regime.
WEAPONRY AND PROTECTION
Saudi Arabia imports nearly everything for their military. So they need to be good friends with someone that has a lot of friends to get their massive weaponry. Hence now they have one of the largest and best equipped forces in the world. They buy thousands of equipment from the US, UK and France.
The Biden administration on recently approved two massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help them defend themselves against Iran. The more than $5 billion in missile defense and related sales follow President Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East last month, during which he met with numerous regional leaders in Saudi Arabia. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been hit in recent months with rocket attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement in Yemen.
SAUDI ARABIA AND TERRORISM
The Saudis teach the Quran, but terrorists corrupt and twist Islam to justify their actions. People think Islam is full of violence and hate for non-Muslims, but the truth is that the violence in the Quran is all based on the defensive. The Quran teaches peace and only violence to defend oneself, never for offensive purposes as the terrorists use it.
It is a fact that the Quran warns against being the first one to raise a hand or a weapon. Saudi Arabia was a full partner and active participant in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and provided significant operational and logistical support for Defeat-ISIS activities in Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia is the largest donor to the UN Counter-Terrorism Center (UNCCT). Abdallah Yahya al-Mouallimi , Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, is the chair of the Consultative Council of UNCCT.
The Saudi Arabian government also worked through the Riyadh-based Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition to strengthen international efforts by hosting several symposia and signing cooperation memoranda with U.S. Central Command and the OIC.
There are high, middle and low-income families. Although Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, the country ranks top on most of the ratings and indexes. It is one of the very few countries in the Middle East that is very stable and prosperous. In fact, Saudi Arabia is ranked the 21st happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report, 2021. Not all Saudis are rich. However, poverty is virtually non-existent as Saudi Arabia enjoys a strong social welfare system whereby each Saudi is entitled to the following:
- People get easily out of poverty because education is free from kindergarten through graduate school (even paid scholarships abroad).
- Health care is free for all Saudis, including medicine and complex surgeries.
- No income tax and only 15% VAT.
- Families with low and middle incomes receive a monthly allowance to compensate for gas and water prices (still the cheapest gas price in the world).
- Saudis with low income receive loans with zero interest rates for establishing small businesses and projects, getting married or buying their first car.
- Unemployed Saudis get supported by the government by receiving a monthly allowance for a whole year until they get employed.
- Women whose salary is less than 8000 Saudi Riyal get an 80% discount on their daily commute to work via Uber (to support more women joining the workforce).
- Women whose salary is less than 8000 Saudi Riyal get an 80% discount on their children’s day center fees (children are most likely the reason why women usually quit their jobs).
In addition, the Saudi society is very well connected and is built around family and friends. When someone gets unemployed, the family will always take care of him or her until they get employed again. When a woman gets divorced, her family will invite her back home to help raise the kids. Parents never go to senior care centers. Their son or daughter will take care of them personally.
WHY USA SUPPORTS THE KINGDOM
- Saudi Arabia is the 9th most powerful country in the world, according to the 2021 Best Countries report.
- Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20, which is a group of the 20 strongest economies in the world.
- 16.1% of global oil exports come from Saudi Arabia (the largest oil-exporting country), totaling $182.5 billion in value. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world that can increase its oil export capacity in a short period of time to meet sudden global oil shortages (a crucial aspect for the global economy).
- Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam. 1.8 billion Muslims pray at the direction of Makkah every day, and millions of Muslims visit Saudi Arabia every year to perform their religious duties of Hajj and Umrah.
- Social cohesion and stability. The Saudi people reject all forms of foreign intervention in their internal affairs. This cohesion allowed Saudi Arabia to stay stable and strong over the years—unlike other countries in the region.
- Saudi Arabia’s unique role in the Arab and Islamic worlds, its holding of the world’s second largest reserves of oil, and its strategic location all play a role in the long-standing bilateral relationship between the Kingdom and the United States.
