The end of special relationships between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia?

The Saudi special relationships with the U.S., unlike that of the U.S. with Israel, are mutually beneficial. Saudi Arabia sells about 10 million barrels of oil a day and all those transactions are denominated in American dollars, which helps that currency to perform the role of the currency of account (world, s currency) and has been of crucial help to the American ambition to dominate the global economy. On the other hand the United States did its part to uphold the relationship be granting the security to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil states. This was demonstrated for example in 1990 during Iraqi attack on Kuwait, that also menaced Saudi Arabia. At that time the U.S. deployed 400,000 troops in Saudi Arabia and expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait. The priority of American foreign policy in that region has been to keep Gulf oil in friendly hands. Since the increase of the production of shale oil in the United States that priority has been less important. Another factor which has exerted an influence on the nature of the U.S.-Saudi relationship was the signing the permanent agreement with Iran in July 2015 on the limitation of the Iranian nuclear program and normalization of political-economic relations with the West. This has led to further worsening of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia alliance which has always been like a ”marriage of convenience” where behind the façade of friendship and harmony there is cold calculation of benefi ts and losses. That alliance will last as long as the potential benefi ts will still be bigger than possible losses.

The United States and Saudi Arabia in the light of ‘Abd ar-Raḥman Munīf’s City of Salt and Dave Eggers’ Hologram for King – a question about the costs of economic progress

The article analyzes two literary works: At-Tīh (The Lost), the first part of the five-volume Mudun al-milḥ (Cities of Salt, 1984–1989) series by Saudi writer ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān Munīf, and the novel A Hologram for the King (2012) by American writer Dave Eggers. The plot of both novels is set in Saudi Arabia. Both works are interesting studies of the mechanisms behind economic expansion and the impact of technological progress on the societies of the particular regions. However, both novels are characterized by a different historical and cultural perspective. Saudi Arabia illustrated in Minīf’s novel at the beginning of the oil age appears to be a completely different political and economic formation than the modern wealthy Saudi Kingdom illustrated in Eggers’ novel. The position of American capital and industry in the world economy in the first half of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century is also different. The geopolitical situation has also changed over the past decades: a new major player – China – has emerged among the economic powers. Despite these differences the analysis of both novels shows that the mechanisms ruling economic expansion remain unchanged and its costs to societies and individuals are difficult to assess. Both works also raise questions about the extent of modernization processes and cultural transformation, as well as the persistence of values, behavior patterns and thought patterns, which reveal their presence especially where the confrontation between the Eastern and Western World takes place.