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Bilateral Relations Between the Us and Saudi Arabia: 1990-2003

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Bilateral Relations Between the Us and Saudi Arabia: 1990-2003 BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE US AND SAUDI ARABIA: 1990-2003 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY EDA BENLOLU IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DECEMBER 2005 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences ________________ Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ________________ Prof. Dr. Meliha Benli Altunıık Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ________________ Prof. Dr. Meliha Benli Altunıık Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Meliha Benli Altunıık (METU, IR) ___________________ Prof. Dr.hsan D. Daı (METU, IR) ___________________ Assoc.Prof. Dr. Çarı Erhan (A. Ü., SBF) ___________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Eda Benliolu Signature : iii ABSTRACT BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE US AND SAUDI ARABIA: 1990-2003 Benliolu, Eda M. Sc., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Meliha Benli Altunıık January 2006, 126 pages The objective of this thesis is to analyze the bilateral relations between the US and Saudi Arabia in the period between 1990 and 2003. In this context, the aim is to find out an answer to the question of how the relations between the US-Saudi Arabia have strained after September 11. Accordingly, the thesis contains four main parts. In the first part of the study, the historical background of US-Saudi relations up to the 1990-1991 Gulf Crisis, which was based on oil for security exchange, is studied. In the second part of the study, the security dilemma of Saudi Arabia, the challenges Saudi Arabia faced during the 1990s, and how these challenges affected its relations with the US are discussed. In the third part, September 11 and how global issues like war on terrorism, war in Iraq and democratization in the Middle East came into the agenda of the relationship is scrutinized. Accordingly, this thesis has reached to the iv following conclusions: First, after September 11, the relations between the two countries became more problematic and have affected by both global issues as well as domestic debates in both countries. Second, despite increasingly problematic nature of the relationship, the two countries managed to continue their strategic relationship, particularly as regards to “war on terrorism”. Keywords: Saudi Arabia, the US, Oil for security, Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Socio- political change in Saudi Arabia, September 11, War on terrorism, the Iraqi war, Democracy in the Middle East. v ÖZ AMERKA BRLEK DEVLETLER VE SUUD ARABSTAN’IN KL LKLER: 1990-2003 Benliolu, Eda Yüksek Lisans, Uluslararası likiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Meliha Benli Altunıık Ocak 2006, 126 sayfa Bu tezin amacı, Amerika Birleik Devletleri ile Suudi Arabistan’ın ikili ilikilerini 1990 ile 2003 yillari arasindaki zaman diliminde incelemektir. Bu balamda, amaç Amerika Birleik Devletleri’nin Suudi Arabistan’la ilikilerinin 11 Eylül’den sonra nasıl gerginletii sorusuna cevap bulmaktır. Tez dört ana bölümden olumaktadır. lk bölümde, Amerika Birleik Devletleri ile Suudi Arabistan’ın 1990- 1991 Körfez Krizi’ne kadar ki süreçte petrol karılıında güvenlik üzerine kurulmu olan ilikilerinin tarihsel geçmii çalıılmıtır. kinci kısımda, Suudi Arabistan’ın güvenlik ikilemi, Suudi Arabistan’ın 1990’larda karılamı olduu problemler ve bu problemlerin Suudi Arabistan’ın Amerika Birleik Devletleri ile ilikilerini nasıl etkiledii tartıılacaktır. Üçüncü bölümde, 11 Eylül ve terörle sava, Irak Savaı ve Ortadou’da demokratikleme süreci gibi küresel konuların ikili ilikilerin vi gündeminde nasıl yer aldıı mercek altına alınacaktır. Böylece, bu tez çalımasında aaıdaki sonuçlara ulaılmıtır. lk olarak, 11 Eylül sonrası dönemde iki ülke arasındaki ilikiler daha sorunlu olmutur; ayrıca ikili ilikiler, küresel konulardan ve iç politika tartımalarından da etkilenmitir. kinci olarak, gittikçe artan sorunlara ramen, her iki ülke stratejik ilikilerini özellikle terörle sava konusunda devam ettirmeyi baarmıtır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Suudi Arabistan, Amerika Birleik Devletleri, güvenlik için petrol, Irak’ın Kuveyt’i igali, Suudi Arabistan’daki sosyo-politik deiiklik, 11 Eylül, Terörle sava, Irak Savaı, Ortadou’da demokrasi. vii To my dear mother Seyhan and father Ali eref and of course, to my brothers Emre and Emrah. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank those who helped me in this study. First, I would like to sincerely thank my thesis advisor, Prof. Dr. Meliha Benli Altunıık for her invaluable support, encouragement, guidance, advice, criticism and insight throughout this study. Without her patient, support and belief in me, I would not have completed this thesis. Also I would like to mention my appreciation to my thesis comittee, Prof. Dr. hsan D. Daı and Associate Prof. Dr. Çarı Erhan for their advice, patience and useful comments. I have five angels in my life that watched me, guided me and took care of me. I have no proper words to express my indebtedness to my mother Seyhan Benliolu, my father Ali eref Benliolu, and my brothers Emre Benliolu and Emrah Benliolu who supported me in every step of life, believed in me and respected all my choices and decisions. I also owe great thank to Ferdane Güler, my last angel and grandmother, for her prayers. Thank you for your endless love, support and tolerance for my stressful presence for many months. I cannot thank you enough except telling that your love meant too much for me in producing something that I can be proud of. My special thanks go to all my colleagues at the Department of International Relations, who always stand by me with their friendships and encouragement. While preparing this thesis, I have a chance to work with wonderful people who saved my life solving my problems in a few minutes. Throughout the ix year, Derya Kap, ebnem Badere Orman, Duran imek, Pınar Arıkan and Bayram Sinkaya have always listened to my constant thesis stress, prepared a suitable atmosphere to deal with the difficulties. Their endless morale support, patience and profound assistance kept me in control. I am also grateful to my roommates Gülen Aydın eker, Özgür Taylan Kaya, Ali Yıldız for their support and motivation. Their contribution to this thesis has been quite decisive. I also would like to thank Aslıgül Sarıkamı, Berna Özen Süer, Aslı Feride Ergül, Ömür Bostan Atmaca, Özlem Kaplan, Beishen Toktogulov and all my other colleagues. Special thanks go to Cengiz Sürücü, Çarı Öztürk and Can Aydın for helping me with the editing, proofreading and for their advice. I really appreciate Assistant Professor Özlem Tür and Assistant Professor Oktay Tanrısever for their support and help. Moreover, I express my sincere appreciation to eniz Bilgi Arı, dris Demir, Kemal Ünal, Emine Erdoan, Iıl Eyiol, Sibel ve Esin Daralı, Mesut Tatekin, aban Karda ve Mehmet ahin for their patience, support, inestimable comments and assistance. I also express my sincere appreciation to Prof. Dr. Münir Atalar for his invaluable support for me in choosing the academic life’s path. I also would like to thank Gülin Yardibi, Mübin Karahan Yerlikaya, Sema Büyük, Durak Mutluer, Alaattin Yıldız, Sedat Meriçelli, Yahya Zehir, Harun Cengiz and Aysel Karakul for their support and help. x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM....................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ...................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION .................................................................................................viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ ix TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...........................................................................xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... 1 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.............................................................. 7 2.1. Foundation of the Kingdom ......................................................... 7 2.2. The Discovery of Oil and the Foundation of Saudi- American Relations .......................................................................... 11 2.3. The Historic Meeting and the Post World War II Period ............ 15 2.4. The 1973 Oil Crisis and The Arab Oil Embargo......................... 23 2.5. Twin Pillars Policy ................................................................... 24 2.6. Iranian Revolution of 1979 and Its Aftermath ........................... 26 3. US-SAUDI RELATIONS DURING THE 1990s.................................... 29 3.1. The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait and The Saudi Response ............. 31 3.2. The US Role in the Security of Saudi Arabia ...........................
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