Download or read book Saudi Arabia and Iraq as Friends and Enemies written by Joshua Yaphe and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2021-12-21 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Saudi Arabia and Iraq have a shared history, as both friends and enemies at one and the same time, and their growth as modern nation-states must be understood in that joint context. This book establishes a new narrative and timeline for bilateral relations between the two countries, while examining the work of other Arab and Western scholars, in order to excavate the biases underlying so much previous work on this topic. In doing so, it proposes a new way of looking at state formation and boundaries in the Middle East, by showing how the interactions of regional neighbors left an indelible imprint on the domestic politics of one another. The two different visions for managing the border that Saudi Arabia and Iraq developed in the 1920s generated mistrust on both sides, leading to a gradual process of estrangement that lasted through the 1950s and beyond. Ibn Saud made strenuous efforts to preserve the socio-economic ties that united the communities of southern Iraq with the Najd and, in turn, those efforts helped encourage a wave of Sunni Arab migrants from Iraq who helped build the Saudi state. Iraqi politicians and clerics attempted to use the issue of Ikhwan raids as a rallying cry for promoting their political agendas, thereby contributing to a growing sectarian discourse and undermining the nationalist rhetoric of the 1920 Revolution. The two countries had a remarkable and long-lasting impact on one another, even as they drifted farther and farther apart through mutual fear and suspicion.

Download or read book Saudi Arabia and Iran written by Banafsheh Keynoush and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mesmerizing story of two countries caught in history whose rivalry can destroy the world or restore its peace, this is the first book to untangle the complex relationship of Saudi Arabia and Iran by rejecting heated rhetoric and looking at the real roots of the issue to promise pathways to peace.

Download or read book The United States And Saudi Arabia written by David E. Long and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-11 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: U.S.-Saudi relations have been marked by ambivalence since their inception over 50 years ago. The Arab-Israeli conflict, the division between buyer and seller of oil, the superpower-small state dichotomy, and the divergence of cultures, traditions, and perceptions have all contributed to the anomalies that have marked the relationship between the two countries, although mutual interest has, over time, outweighed mutual antagonism. Dr. Long examines the major factors affecting their association—economic, commercial, military, and political as well as oil-related factors—and develops the thesis that each has evolved a unique internal dynamic and an existence independent of the others. It is primarily in times of crisis that the factors have overlapped in the minds of decision makers, Saudi and American alike. The author argues that a knowledge of the development of each individual element is crucial for understanding the intricacies of current U.S.-Saudi relations.

Download or read book Saudi Arabia and Iraq written by Joseph McMillan and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Self Fulfilling Prophecy written by Katherine Harvey and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-01-01 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the geopolitical rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has dominated the headlines. Many have charted the polarization between a Saudi-led Sunni camp and an Iranian-led Shia one, assuming that a predominantly Shia state like Iraq would automatically ally with Iran. In this compelling account, Katherine Harvey tells a different story: Iraq's alignment with Iran was not a foregone conclusion. Rather, Saudi efforts to undermine Iran have paradoxically empowered it. Harvey investigates why the Saudis refused to engage with Iraq's post-2003 Shia-led government, despite continual outreach by Iraq's new leaders and considerable pressure from the United States. She finds that certain deeply ingrained assumptions predisposed Saudi leaders to see a Shia-led Iraq as naturally beholden to Iran: the view that Iran is inherently expansionist, and the belief that Arab Shia tend to be loyal to it. This outlook was simplistic, even downright inaccurate; and, in refusing to engage, the Saudis created a self-fulfilling prophecy. As Harvey demonstrates, members of Iraq's new government initially sought to establish a positive relationship with Saudi Arabia, and to pursue a course independent from Iran. But, isolated and rejected by Saudi King Abdullah, Iraq ultimately had nowhere else to turn.

Download or read book Against All Enemies written by Richard A. Clarke and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-12-09 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Clarke has been one of America's foremost experts on counterterrorism measures for more than two decades. He has served under four presidents from both parties, beginning in Ronald Reagan's State Department becoming America's first Counter-terrorism Czar under Bill Clinton and remaining for the first two years of George W. Bush's administration. He has seen every piece of intelligence on Al-Qaeda from the beginning; he was in the Situation Room on September 11th and he knows exactly what has taken place under the United State's new Department of Homeland Security. Through gripping, thriller-like scenes, he tells the full story for the first time and explains what the Bush Administration are doing.

Download or read book Saudi Arabia and Iraq Oil Religion and an Enduring Rivalry written by Joseph McMillan and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Saudi Arabia and Iran written by Simon Mabon and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-21 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution, relations between states in the Middle East were reconfigured and reassessed overnight. Amongst the most-affected was the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The existence of a new regime in Tehran led to increasingly vitriolic confrontations between these two states, often manifesting themselves in the conflicts across the region, such as those in Lebanon and Iraq, and more recently in Bahrain and Syria. With rhetoric emanating from each side about the other's illegitimacy, most often couched in terms of religious orthodoxy or heresy, the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran has ramifications not only in the Gulf or the wider Middle East, but also on the international stage. In order to shed light upon this rivalry, Simon Mabon examines the different identity groups within Saudi Arabia and Iran (made up of various religions, ethnicities and tribal groupings), proposing that internal insecurity has an enormous impact on the wider ideological and geopolitical competition between the two.Focusing on the 'soft power' aspects of foreign policy formation (as opposed to 'hard power'), Mabon draws a nuanced picture of the diplomatic and international relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the ways in which each state has sought to attain a leading position in both the Middle East and Muslim world. Mabon therefore looks at the ways in which each state has a tendency to provide support for identity groups that threaten the security of the other regime, such as Iran's support for the Shi'a of Saudi Arabia, or Saudi Arabia's attempt to strengthen ties with the ethnic Arabs in Iran. With analysis of this heated and often uneasy relationship and its impact on the wider Middle East, this book is vital for those researching international relations and diplomacy in the region.

Download or read book Saudi Arabia in the New Middle East written by F Gregory Gause, III and published by Council on Foreign Relations. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States'' relationship with Saudi Arabia has been one of the cornerstones of U.S. policy in the Middle East for decades. Despite their substantial differences in history, culture, and governance, the two countries have generally agreed on important political and economic issues and have often relied on each other to secure mutual aims. The 1990-91 Gulf War is perhaps the most obvious example, but their ongoing cooperation on maintaining regional stability, moderating the global oil market, and pursuing terrorists should not be downplayed. Yet for all the relationship''s importance, it is increasingly imperiled by mistrust and misunderstanding. One major question is Saudi Arabia''s stability. In this Council Special Report, sponsored by the Center for Preventive Action, F. Gregory Gause III first explores the foundations of Riyadh''s present stability and potential sources of future unrest. It is difficult not to notice that Saudi Arabia avoided significant upheaval during the political uprisings that swept the Middle East in 2011, despite sharing many of the social and economic problems of Egypt, Yemen, and Libya. But unlike their counterparts in Cairo, Sanaa, and Tripoli, Riyadh''s leadership was able to maintain order in large part by increasing public spending on housing and salaries, relying on loyal and well-equipped security forces, and utilizing its extensive patronage networks. The divisions within the political opposition also helped the government''s cause. This is not to say that Gause believes that the stability of the House of Saud is assured. He points out that the top heirs to the throne are elderly and the potential for disorderly squabbling may increase as a new generation enters the line of succession. Moreover, the population is growing quickly, and there is little reason to believe that oil will forever be able to buy social tranquility. Perhaps most important, Gause argues, the leadership''s response to the 2011 uprisings did little to forestall future crises; an opportunity for manageable political reform was mostly lost. Turning to the regional situation, Gause finds it no less complex. Saudi Arabia has wielded considerable influence with its neighbors through its vast oil reserves, its quiet financial and political support for allies, and the ideological influence of salafism, the austere interpretation of Islam that is perhaps Riyadh''s most controversial export. For all its wealth and religious influence, however, Saudi Arabia''s recent record has been less than successful. It was unable to counter Iranian influence in post-Saddam Iraq, it could not prevent Hezbollah taking power in Lebanon, and its ongoing efforts to reconcile Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have come to naught. The U.S.-Saudi relationship has, unsurprisingly, been affected by these and other challenges, including Saudi unhappiness with Washington''s decision to distance itself from Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, the lack of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and Iran. For its part, the United States is unhappy with the Saudi intervention in Bahrain and Saudi support for radical Islamists around the region and the world. The two traditional anchors of the U.S.-Saudi relationship-the Cold War and U.S. operation of Riyadh''s oil fields-are, Gause notes, no longer factors. It is no wonder, he contends, that the relationship is strained when problems are myriad and the old foundations of the informal alliance are gone. It would be far better, Gause argues, to acknowledge that the two countries can no longer expect to act in close concert under such conditions. He recommends that the United States reimagine the relationship as simply transactional, based on cooperation when interests-rather than habit-dictate. Prioritizing those interests will therefore be critical. Rather than pressuring Riyadh for domestic political reform, or asking it to reduce global oil prices, Gause recommends that the United States spend its political capital where it really matters: on maintaining regional security, dismantling terrorist networks, and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. There have been few relationships more important to the United States than that with Saudi Arabia, and it is vital that, as it enters a new phase, the expectations and priorities of both countries are clear. In Saudi Arabia in the New Middle East, Gause effectively assesses the challenges and opportunities facing Saudi Arabia and makes a compelling argument for a more modest, businesslike relationship between Washington and Riyadh that better reflects modern realities. As the United States begins reassessing its commitments in the Greater Middle East, this report offers a clear vision for a more limited-but perhaps more appropriate and sustainable-future partnership.

Download or read book Saudi Arabia and Iran written by Simon Mabon and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2022-11-08 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1979, the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran – the two major powers in the Muslim world – has played a prominent role in shaping Middle Eastern politics. Political in nature yet couched in Islamic rhetoric, this rivalry reflects a desire to ensure regime security and legitimacy while also increasing influence across the Middle East. Since the 2003 Iraq War, the relationship has become increasingly vitriolic, resulting in the emergence of proxy conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen. This book argues that to understand regional politics, comprehension of the rivalry between Riyadh and Tehran is essential. An electronic version of this book is available under a creative commons licence: manchesterhive.com/view/9781526150844/9781526150844.xml

Download or read book Thicker Than Oil written by Rachel Bronson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rachel Bronson analyses the sometimes rocky partnership between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and the problems that it has spawned in this history of U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia. She discusses the potential long-term repercussions of allowing the alliance to deteriorate in today's battle against global terrorism.

Download or read book The Battle for Saudi Arabia written by As'Ad Abukhalil and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Battle for Saudi Arabia: Royalty, Fundamentalism, and Global Power , Professor As`ad AbuKhalil confronts the contradictory nature of Saudi Arabia—questions that both the Saudi government, long shrouded in mystery, and the United States government, ever protective of its own interests, seem unwilling to answer. In this unsparing probe into the history and power structure of the kingdom, Professor AbuKhalil, author of Bin Laden, Islam, and America’s New "War on Terrorism", affords the reader unique insight into the intense friction that underlies the increasingly precarious balance between the Saudi royal family and the fundamentalist clerical establishment.

Download or read book Sleeping with the Devil written by Robert Baer and published by Crown. This book was released on 2003-07-15 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state—a place that spawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient and deeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family that can’t get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on?” In his explosive New York Times bestseller, See No Evil, former CIA operative Robert Baer exposed how Washington politics drastically compromised the CIA’s efforts to fight global terrorism. Now in his powerful new book, Sleeping with the Devil, Baer turns his attention to Saudi Arabia, revealing how our government’s cynical relationship with our Middle Eastern ally and America’ s dependence on Saudi oil make us increasingly vulnerable to economic disaster and put us at risk for further acts of terrorism. For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a “harmony of interests.” America counted on the Saudis for cheap oil, political stability in the Middle East, and lucrative business relationships for the United States, while providing a voracious market for the kingdom’ s vast oil reserves. With money and oil flowing freely between Washington and Riyadh, the United States has felt secure in its relationship with the Saudis and the ruling Al Sa’ud family. But the rot at the core of our “friendship” with the Saudis was dramatically revealed when it became apparent that fifteen of the nineteen September 11 hijackers proved to be Saudi citizens. In Sleeping with the Devil, Baer documents with chilling clarity how our addiction to cheap oil and Saudi petrodollars caused us to turn a blind eye to the Al Sa’ud’s culture of bribery, its abysmal human rights record, and its financial support of fundamentalist Islamic groups that have been directly linked to international acts of terror, including those against the United States. Drawing on his experience as a field operative who was on the ground in the Middle East for much of his twenty years with the agency, as well as the large network of sources he has cultivated in the region and in the U.S. intelligence community, Baer vividly portrays our decades-old relationship with the increasingly dysfunctional and corrupt Al Sa’ud family, the fierce anti-Western sentiment that is sweeping the kingdom, and the desperate link between the two. In hopes of saving its own neck, the royal family has been shoveling money as fast as it can to mosque schools that preach hatred of America and to militant fundamentalist groups—an end game just waiting to play out. Baer not only reveals the outrageous excesses of a Saudi royal family completely out of touch with the people of its kingdom, he also takes readers on a highly personal search for the deeper roots of modern terrorism, a journey that returns time again and again to Saudi Arabia: to the Wahhabis, the powerful Islamic sect that rules the Saudi street; to the Taliban and al Qaeda, both of which Saudi Arabia helped to underwrite; and to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most active and effective terrorist groups in existence, which the Al Sa’ud have sheltered and funded. The money and arms that we send to Saudi Arabia are, in effect, being used to cut our own throat, Baer writes, but America might have only itself to blame. So long as we continue to encourage the highly volatile Saudi state to bank our oil under its sand—and so long as we continue to grab at the Al Sa’ud’s money—we are laying the groundwork for a potential global economic catastrophe.

Download or read book Saudi Iraqi Relations 1921 1958 written by Joshua Yaphe and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the period of state formation in the 1920s, Saudi Arabia and Iraq embarked on two different paths with competing visions for managing the border. This generated mistrust on both sides, leading to a gradual process of estrangement that lasted through the 1950s and beyond. Nevertheless, the two countries had a remarkable influence on one another, so that their relations came to have an unforeseen and long-lasting impact on their domestic politics. Ibn Saud made strenuous efforts to preserve the socio-economic ties that united the communities of southern Iraq with the Najd. In turn, those efforts helped encourage a wave of Sunni Arab migrants from Iraq who helped build the Saudi state. Iraqi politicians and clerics attempted to use the issue of Ikhwan raids as a rallying cry for promoting their political agendas. In turn, those attempts contributed to a growing sectarian discourse, undermining the nationalist rhetoric that had flourished during the 1920 Revolution. Iraq and Saudi Arabia have a shared history and their growth as modern nation-states must be understood in that joint context. This study establishes a new narrative and timeline for bilateral relations between the two countries, while examining the word of other Arab and Western scholars in order to excavate the prejudices and biases that have underlined so much of the previous work on this topic. In doing so, it proposes a new way of looking at state formation and boundaries in the Middle East, by showing the ways that regional neighbors left an indelible imprint on each other in this formative period of growth.

Download or read book Saudi Arabia and the Illusion of Security written by J.E. Peterson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines Saudi Arabia's security from the Saudi point of view, concentrating on internal challenges to the country's security as well as external threats. It also surveys US-Saudi relations in the aftermath of the terrorist strikes of the 11th of September 2001.

Download or read book Iraq and the Gulf States written by Jon B. Alterman and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book House of Bush House of Saud written by Craig Unger and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004-03-19 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newsbreaking and controversial -- an award-winning investigative journalist uncovers the thirty-year relationship between the Bush family and the House of Saud and explains its impact on American foreign policy, business, and national security. House of Bush, House of Saud begins with a politically explosive question: How is it that two days after 9/11, when U.S. air traffic was tightly restricted, 140 Saudis, many immediate kin to Osama Bin Laden, were permitted to leave the country without being questioned by U.S. intelligence? The answer lies in a hidden relationship that began in the 1970s, when the oil-rich House of Saud began courting American politicians in a bid for military protection, influence, and investment opportunity. With the Bush family, the Saudis hit a gusher -- direct access to presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. To trace the amazing weave of Saud- Bush connections, Unger interviewed three former directors of the CIA, top Saudi and Israeli intelligence officials, and more than one hundred other sources. His access to major players is unparalleled and often exclusive -- including executives at the Carlyle Group, the giant investment firm where the House of Bush and the House of Saud each has a major stake. Like Bob Woodward's The Veil, Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud features unprecedented reportage; like Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country? Unger's book offers a political counter-narrative to official explanations; this deeply sourced account has already been cited by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, and sets 9/11, the two Gulf Wars, and the ongoing Middle East crisis in a new context: What really happened when America's most powerful political family became seduced by its Saudi counterparts?