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WHAT
IS THE SAUDI-U.S. RELATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE?
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Welcome to the new members of the Saudi-US Relations
Information Service mailing list. For more information
about the service please visit the website at: http://www.SaudiUSRelations.org
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| FOR
MEMBERS OF THE SAUDI-AMERICAN FORUM |
| The SUSRIS newsletter will
provide the same news, commentary, background material
and more that you were receiving in the SAF
newsletter. This change will not effect delivery
of Saudi-American Forum essays and action alerts to
you.
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Saudi-American
Forum |
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| DISCUSSION
FORUM |
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The Saudi-US Relations Information
Service features a discussion forum for you to post
your ideas, opinions and questions. To sign
on and speak up Click
Here. Some of the current discussions:
Reform Issues
"The Coalition is in the final phases of Iraq's
liberation -- with the stated goal of bringing freedom
and democracy to the people there. What does that mean
in practical terms for Saudi Arabia, where some
discussion has taken place about internal political
reform?" Will A.
[more]
War on Terrorism
"Perception is the
operative watch word. Perhaps, though, those who
criticize do not necessarily know the truth of what
occurs behind the scenes, not only in KSA, but
worldwide." pmwalt2
[more]
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| AN
ESSAY FROM THE SAUDI-AMERICAN
FORUM |
SAUDI
ARABS, AMERICANS
AND OIL
by Robert L. Norberg |
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In 1973, forty years
after American oil explorers first went ashore on
Saudi Arabia's eastern coastline, the Saudi
government began an incremental buy-out of the
concession-holding Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco).
The richest prize in oil industry history, the
generator of billions of dollars for the four
American oil companies that owned Aramco, was being
relinquished -- without rancor or recriminations. In
1933, Saudi Arabia lacked indigenous skilled
workers, had few schools and virtually no civil
infrastructure. Within the lifetime of the
67-year-old Ali Naimi, who joined Aramco as a boy
and is now the Kingdom's oil minister, the world's
largest integrated oil company was totally in Saudi
hands -- from the rig floor to top management. This
is an account of human resource development, an
evolving concession agreement, the character of the
relationship between the Saudi Arab government and
Aramco, and the on-going Saudi-American energy
industry partnerships.
[more] |
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| FACTOID |
| "With one-fourth of the
world's proven oil reserves, Saudi Arabia is likely to remain
the world's largest oil producer for the foreseeable future.
During the first 7 months of 2002, Saudi Arabia supplied the
United States with 1.5 million barrels per day of crude oil,
or 17%, of U.S. crude oil imports during that period."
U.S.
Energy Information Administration
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| AN
ESSAY FROM THE SAUDI-AMERICAN
FORUM |
WAHHABISM:
A CHRISTMAS EVE TALK
by Abdalla Musa Tayer Mohammed |
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Dear
Friends:
I read with interest the essay published in the
Saudi American Forum "Being
a Woman in Saudi Arabia," by Sally Al-Turki.
Her essay touched me with its sincerity and honesty.
She noted there are many areas in Saudi society that
people would like to see changed, many areas that we
are pleased with and many misconceptions we would
like to see corrected. Her article gave me pause to
think and inspiration to write about my personal
feelings on another important misunderstanding..
On Christmas Eve, I was in
Riyadh visiting old friends, some of whom I had not
seen for the past ten years. With the exception of
myself, educated in Britain, my friends were all
graduates of United States universities. Our
conversations touched a number of areas that night,
however September 11th and its ramifications were
central issues.
[more] |
| ON
THE BOOKSHELF |
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The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
by
David E. Long
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Book Description
(Amazon.com)
"David Long’s portrait of Saudi Arabia
depicts the kingdom as one of the least understood
countries in the world. Encompassing all facets of
Saudi life—the land and people, their religion and
culture, the country’s history, politics,
economics, and foreign policy—the book presents
scholarship in a highly readable narrative. Drawing
upon extensive firsthand experience, Long depicts
the often contradictory impulses of a country
committed both to modernization and to the values of
a traditional society. Alongside his discussion of
oil and the Saudi economy, for example, is a chapter
on the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage, to Makkah, a
subject about which little has been written in
English but one that is far more important to the
millions of Muslims worldwide than the kingdom’s
oil wealth. At every turn Long looks at issues from
a Saudi point of view as he explores the kingdom’s
successes, failures, and, most of all, its
remarkable resiliency in response to the pressures
of social change."
[more]
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