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May 2006
| Author: | Rachel Bronson, Former Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies |
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The first full history of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, revealing why the alliance was formed and what we stand to lose if it collapses.
What is a CFR Academic Module?
Academic Modules—featuring teaching notes by the authors of CFR publications—are designed to assist educators in creating or supplementing a course syllabus. The modules are customized packages built around a primary CFR text, such as a book or report, and include teaching notes; additional readings; video, audio, and transcripts of CFR meetings; Foreign Affairs articles; and other online resources. Use of these modules is free of charge. They may be used in part or in their entirety.
May 2006
The first full history of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, revealing why the alliance was formed and what we stand to lose if it collapses.
By Rachel Bronson
Thicker than Oil can be a useful resource for a variety of undergraduate or graduate courses. These notes offer some suggestions for using the book in courses devoted to:
Thicker than Oil offers a useful guide to students about the complex global environment in which the U.S.-Saudi relationship developed. It goes beyond the traditional formulation of U.S.-Saudi relations as nothing more than a basic bargain of oil for security and shows the ongoing influence of factors such as religion and strategic location. The book provides insights into America’s Cold War choices and Saudi Arabia’s regional and global interests. It also lays out the strategic choices the United States and Saudi Arabia both face in the coming years and makes recommendations for moving forward. The book should provide for a number of useful discussions in a range of classes.
Discussion questions:
Debate: Is Saudi Arabia with or against the United States in the war on terror?
Discussion questions:
Debate: America and Saudi Arabia have a number of shared interests in the region, like stabilizing Iraq and detering Iran. Do you think that these shared interests will pull them together and cause the two to work in together or further divide them as they loose confidence in the other’s ability to succeed in their aims? What would be the consequences of each direction?
Discussion questions:
Debate the statement: The rise of religious radicalism across the globe is more of a political story than an economic or theological one.
Discussion questions:
Debate the statement: American policy toward Saudi Arabia should not revolve around reform.
Additional Reading
Jan Kalicki and David Goldwyn, Energy & Security: Toward a New Foreign Policy Strategy (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)
Paul Aarts and Gerd Nonneman, Saudi Arabia in the Balance: Political Economy, Society, Foreign Affairs (London: Hurst & Co., 2005).
February 22, 2006
Watch Terje Roed-Larsen discuss his past and present role in the Middle East peace process as part of the Home Box Office (HBO)-sponsored History Makers Series.
February 13, 2006
Listen to Prince Turki al-Faisal talk about the Saudi-U.S. relationship and about the global security challenges that they both face.
February 22, 2006
Listen to Terje Roed-Larsen discuss his past and present role in the Middle East peace process as part of the Home Box Office (HBO)-sponsored History Makers Series.
February 13, 2006
Listen to Prince Turki al-Faisal talk about the Saudi-U.S. relationship and about the global security challenges that they both face.
February 22, 2006
Terje Roed-Larsen discusses his past and present role in the Middle Eastpeace process as part of the Home Box Office (HBO)-sponsored History Makers Series.
February 13, 2006
Prince Turki al-Faisal talks about the Saudi-U.S. relationship and about the global security challenges that they both face.
November 15, 2005
October 7, 2005
September 20, 2005
May 17, 2005
May 19, 2006
Cfr.org's Michael Moran interviews Senior Fellow Rachel Bronson on her new book, "Thicker Than Oil: America's Uneasy Relationship with Saudi Arabia."
“Managing China-U.S. Energy Competition in the Middle East,” by Flynt Leverett and Jeffrey Bader, The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2005-2006.
http://www.twq.com/06winter/docs/06winter_leverett.pdf
"Understanding US-Saudi Relations" by Rachel Bronson, in Saudi Arabia in the Balance: Political Economy, Society, Foreign Affairs, Edited by Paul Aarts and Gerd Nonneman. London: Hurst & Company, Ltd., 2005, pp. 372-398
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/Bronson_Saudi_Relations.pdf
“The Shi’a Question in Saudi Arabia,” by International Crisis Group, Middle East Report N°45, September, 19 2005
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3678&l=1
“Saudi Arabia: Terrorist Financing Issues” by Alfred B. Prados and Christopher M. Blanchard, CRS Report for Congress, September 15, 2005
http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32499.pdf
“Money Laundering and Terror Financing Issues in the Middle East,” Testimony by Stuart Levey before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, July 13, 2005
http://banking.senate.gov/_files/ACFA8.pdf
“Reengaging Riyadh,” by Flynt Leverett from The Road Ahead: Middle East Policy in the Bush Administration’s Second Term, Edited by Flynt Leverett, Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, March 25, 2005
http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/analysis/20050325roadahead.pdf
February 8, 2005
Frontline 'House of Saud' Resources
FRONTLINE, American public television's (PBS) flagship public affairs series, has created a special history on Saudi Arabia, its troubled relationship with America, and the challenges confronting a nation where tradition and modernity are in violent collision.
“Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia,” by Anthony Cordesman and Nawaf Obaid, Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 16, 2005
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/050106_al-qaedainsaudi.pdf
“Can Saudi Arabia Reform Itself?” by International Crisis Group, Middle East Report N°28, July 14, 2004
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/050106_al-qaedainsaudi.pdf
“Between Islamists and Liberals: Saudi Arabia’s new ‘Islamo-Liberal’ Reformists,” by Stephane Lacroix, The Middle East Journal, Summer 2004.
http://www.mideasti.org/articles/doc237.pdf
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