Eisenhower, King Sa`ud, and the politics of Arab nationalism: United States-Saudi relations, 1952-1960

During the early Cold War, the United States depended on Middle Eastern oil to sustain European reconstruction and defense. Its extraction involved a series of arrangements among oil-producing and -transit states, petroleum corporations, and the western allies known collectively as the "postwar petroleum order." This study examines the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia in the context of the postwar petroleum order and considers how integration into the global oil economy affected the Saudi state.; The Eisenhower administration relied on the Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco) to defuse conflict with the Saudi government through expanding royalties, a diplomatic approach that emerged from the domestic political economy. When Arab nationalism and Cold War tensions threatened the postwar petroleum order, however, Eisenhower cultivated King Sacud as an Arab leader who could rival Egyptian President cAbd al-Nas&dotbelow;ir.; By the late 1940s, Britain and the United States had reached a compromise vision for western Europe that required Anglo-American cooperation in the Middle East. Only through continued access to Persian Gulf oil could Britain remain part of the multilateral economy in Europe fostered by the U.S. Yet, while the U.S. employed a corporatist oil diplomacy, the British consolidated their imperial presence in the Gulf. Anglo-American disputes including the Buraymi and Suez crises stemmed from a basic clash between these policies.; The private structure of U.S. oil diplomacy played a major role in the evolution of the state founded by cAbd al-cAziz ibn Sacud. The king's reliance on Aramco obviated the need for an elaborate administration and helped to delay political reforms by his heirs, Sacud and FaySal, who struggled for power following their father's 1953 death. A decline in royalties finally necessitated governmental reforms and led to the formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which was a conservative attempt by Arab and non-Arab oil-producers to secure the best possible terms within the postwar petroleum order.; The dissertation is based on research at the Eisenhower Library, National Archives, and the British Public Record Office; it draws upon Aramco documents found in the William E. Mulligan papers; and it incorporates published, Arabic-language sources.