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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ The Business of Politics and the Politics of Business Anglo-Saudi Relations in the Contemporary Era, 1991 -2006 Alhamoudi, Waleed Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 This electronic theses or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Title: The Business of Politics and the Politics of Business: Anglo-Saudi Relations in the Contemporary Era, 1991 -2006 Author: Waleed al-Hamoudi The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. 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Thesis The Business of Politics and the Politics of Business: Anglo-Saudi Relations in the Contemporary Era, 1991-2006 By Waleed al-Hamoudi Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Middle East & Mediterranean Studies School of Arts & Humanities King’s College London University of London 8 January 2014 1 Abstract This thesis examines the Anglo-Saudi bilateral relationship in the political, security and economic spheres in the period between 1990 and 2006. This was a decade and a half that saw the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent US-led international coalition to remove him from Saudi Arabia’s smaller neighbour. It also saw the birth of Saudi-born al-Qaeda, the September 2001 (9/11) attacks on the United States and the subsequent US- led invasion of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003). All of these events had a profound impact on Saudi Arabia’s security situation. But they also impacted on the socio- economic direction of the country and forced the nation to look inwards to identify its failings as well as its strengths. Through all this Britain was one of the external parties that worked most closely with the Saudi leadership in every sphere. As chapter one of this thesis shows, the British engagement with the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz AlSaud (aka Ibn Saud), can be traced back to the very beginning of his rise to greatness. As the dominant western power in the Middle East at the start of the twentieth century, Britain had a major influence on the evolution of the Saudi state in its earliest years. This chapter highlights the highs and lows in the bilateral relationship both in the years between World War I and II and during the Cold War era as Britain saw its status as the dominant western player in the Middle East be superseded by the United States. This chapter ends on the eve of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Chapter two examines the bilateral Anglo-Saudi relationship in the context of this unprecedented crisis. Chapter three examines the economic relationship between these two countries from the end of the Gulf crisis of the early 1990s until the end of the period under study in 2006. In particular, it examines this important issue in terms of the arms trade between the two 2 countries and the record breaking al-Yamamah arms deal of the 1980s and 1990s. Chapters 4 and 5 looks at the strains and tensions, as well as opportunities for cooperation, in the areas of counter-terrorism, human rights and democratisation that followed the 9/11 attacks on the US. Chapter 6 examines how the US-led invasion of Iraq impacted on bilateral relations between London and Riyadh. Throughout the major contention at the heart of this thesis is that despite major strains and stresses on bilateral relations, Anglo-Saudi ties between 1990 and 2006 not only developed positively in many areas but flourished. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 4 Acknowledgements 5 Acronyms and Abbreviations 6 Introduction 8 Chapter 1 Shifting Sands: The Ups and Downs of Bilateral 28 Relations in the Political and Diplomatic Sphere, 1900-1990 Chapter 2 Cooperation in the Face of Conflict: The Iraqi 62 Invasion of Kuwait, 1990-91 Chapter 3 The Politics of Business: Challenges and opportunities 84 in the Economic Sphere in the Al-Yamamah Era, 1991-2006 Chapter 4 Under Fire: Anglo-Saudi Bilateral Relations in 109 an Age of Global Terror Chapter 5 Learning together: Anglo-Saudi Cooperation in the 135 War on Terror Chapter 6 The politics of difference: The Invasion of Iraq 154 and bilateral Anglo-Saudi Relations Conclusion 184 Bibliography 192 4 Acknowledgements My sincere appreciation and gratitude go to my mother and my father. Particular thanks must also go to my wife and to my children for their patience, encouragement and sacrificed evenings, weekends and holidays. I would like to give my thanks to Professor Rory Miller for helping me through the project, for supervising my research and for his effort. Without all their encouragement this thesis could not have been completed. 5 Acronyms and Abbreviations API Arab Peace Initiative ARAMCO Arab American Petroleum Company ARC Advice and Reformation Committee AYEOP Saudi British Economic Offset Programme BAA British Airport Authority BAE British Aerospace BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BSE Bovine spongiform encephalopathy CDLR Committee for Defence of Legitimate Rights CIA Central Intelligence Agency CNN Cable News Network CRS Congressional Research Service CSFP Common Security and Foreign Policy DfID Department for International Development EIJ Egyptian Islamic Jihad ERM Exchange Rate mechanism EU European Union FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office GATT General Agreement on Tariff and Trade GCC Gulf Cooperation Council GDP Gross Domestic Product GIA Algerian Armed Islamic Group HMG His Majesty’s Government HRC Human Rights Commission HRH Her Royal Highness HRW Human Rights Watch HSBC Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corp ICI Imperial Chemical Industries IMF International Monetary Fund INA Iraqi National Accord 6 ISC Intelligence and Security Committee JIC Joint Intelligence Committee MIRA Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia MOU Memorandum of Understanding NAO National Audit Office NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OIC Organisation of the Islamic Conference ONS Office for National Statistics PLC Public Limited Company RAF Royal Air Force RUSI Royal United Services Institute SABB Saudi-British Bank SAGIA Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority SAMA Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority SAS Special Air Service SEC Supreme Economic Council SFO Serious Fraud Office SIDF Saudi Industrial Development Fund SOCAL Standard Oil Company of California UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UAE United Arab Emirates UN United Nations UNSC United Nations Security Council UNSCOM United Nations Special Commission USC United Sugar Company WTO World Trade Organisation WTO World Tourism Organization 7 Introduction In October 2007, Queen Elizabeth II hosted Saudi King Abdullah at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.1 This was the first visit by a Saudi king to Britain for two decades. It was amicable and constructive trip and reminded observers that Saudi kings, since the country’s founder King Abdulaziz (aka Ibn Saud), had always placed a value on developing friendly relations with British governments and monarchs. Moreover, it was a reminder that though troubled on occasion, the deep and extensive links between Britain and Saudi Arabia that could be traced back to the pre-Saudi state era, were strong and transcended any crisis or series of crises in the political, economic or security spheres. It was also evidence, as this thesis will argue, that despite experiencing major challenges in the years between 1990 and 2006, the bilateral relationship not only survived but was remarkably buoyant in this period. This thesis examines the evolution of the bilateral Anglo-Saudi relationship in the political, diplomatic, security and economic spheres in the period between these two Saudi royal visits.