Thursday, April 17, 2003
Doing a little catch up on Saudi Arabia now. I started with FRONTLINE's "Saudi Time Bomb?" program but found it to be a little above where I'm at. So I retreated to the chronology of Saudi Arabia with additional reference from the U.S. State Department. Some things that I learned/of interest:
- Saudi Arabia is a monarchy.
- Saudi Arabia also seems to be a religious state, practicing a strict adherence to the principles of Islamic law (shiara). In fact, the constitution of Saudi Arabia is the Koran.
- The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was only established in 1932. However, the Saudi "state" (I'm not sure of the connotations) was established way back around 1750.
- Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and Mecca (a major Islamic pilgrimage destination) is in Saudi Arabia.
- Oil was only discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s (by U.S. geologists.) Since widescale production was begun after WWII, Saudi Arabia has become the world's largest producer and exporter of oil.
- The U.S. has shared a (formal) security relationship with Saudi Arabia since 1951.
I'm trying to understand the nature of the U.S.'s relationship with Saudi Arabia. They definitely appear to be one a historical ally of the U.S. despite an apparent incompatibility between religious beliefs and our role as foreigners. There's a complicated web surrounding how the Saudi government (the Saud royal family) has been able to negotiate those relations. I feel that is the key point for me to understand.
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