Suudi Arabistan-Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ilişkileri (1930-2000)

This study examines the bilateral and collaborative relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia and highlights their partnership over decades. Since the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the cooperation of both states began with the pursuit of Saudi oil. Moreover, both states also pursued allied interests in the quest for regional hegemony. Since Iran became a common enemy of both states in 1979, the regional politics of the Middle East became more complex and complicated. Both the US and Saudi Arabia had a strong influence on regional policies in pursuit of achieving their national objectives. Although the two states also shared their differences on the issue of Israel, economic and military interests helped to overcome any other identity-related issues. The United States also supported Saudi Arabia in building and strengthening its defense system, while simultaneously keeping its bases in the country as well to secure the territorial integrity of Saud Arabia. It can be assessed that both these states avoided any kind of confrontation despite having serious ideological, political systemic, and moral differences to continue their economic trade. In this line this study aims to reveal the underlying reasons of the long-term cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the US. With this aim the analysis is based on an approach that highlights the impact of oil politics across the Middle East and addresses the hegemonic designs of Saudi Arabia and the United States across the Middle East.