Weapons For Oil : An Analysis of a Mutual Military-Energy Dependency of the United States and Saudi Arabia in 1970- 2000

In many works on the relationship of the USA and the Middle East is always one of the most debated issues the degree of the U.S. dependency on oil imports from this region and U.S. vulnerability to their possible suspension. Although this is a very serious issue, there are only few studies that put it in the context of other major Western countries. In turn, the USA provide most Gulf states a military protection, through which they tie them tightly to themselves. The goal of my work is to assess a degree of dependency of the United States and Saudi Arabia on the two most strategic commodities - oil and arms. To answer this question, I made a mutual comparison and analysis of data especially U.S. governmental resources which helped me to confirm and refute some general claims. I was able to demonstrate that in many respects the issue of energy and military dependency is a far more complex because it works in both directions. This work thus removes some clichs about the U.S.-Saudi relationship and is useful to all who are interested in their military and energy relations in various perspectives and issues of energy security in general.