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IN THIS ISSUE
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| The
inaugural edition of the Saudi-US Relations Information
Service provides information about the SUSRIS web site and
newsletter and related features in the Saudi-American
Forum, a companion service. |
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WHAT IS THE SAUDI-U.S. RELATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE?
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| The Saudi-U.S. Relations
Information Service (SUSRIS) is part of a private
sector, information service highlighting the
characteristics, strength and importance of the
U.S.-Saudi relationship. The SUSRIS is a public
service of the National
Council on U.S.-Arab Relations as an element of its
mission: To educate Americans about Arab countries,
the Middle East, and the Islamic world through
leadership development, people-to-people programs,
lectures, publications, and grassroots outreach.
The SUSRIS, along with its companion
service, the Saudi-American
Forum, provides information on a broad range of
topics that underscore the Saudi-US relationship, as
well as interactive features, such as an expansive
discussion forum and subject fact sheets, briefings,
links and more. As the service develops we will pack the
site with hard to find resources to assist visitors in
learning the details of the historic ties between these
countries.
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| NOTE FOR GULFWIRE READERS |
| We welcome
you to the Saudi-U.S. Relations newsletter -- like
GulfWire, it is a public service of the National Council
on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR). As regular
readers of the GulfWire family of newsletters you
recognize the important contribution the NCUSAR is
making to providing information about Gulf developments.
We hope you will keep this newsletter on your regular
reading list. As with GulfWire the SUSRIS will
bring you hard to come by timely, insightful news,
analyses, commentary and more.
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| NOTE FOR MEMBERS OF THE SAUDI-AMERICAN FORUM |
| Welcome to the
inaugural SUSRIS newsletter, which 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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| GREAT DECISIONS |
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The Foreign Policy
Association's 2003 Great Decisions
Discussion Program -- a nationwide program
that facilitates community-level examination
of global issues -- includes the U.S.-Saudi
relationship among its discussion topics. Learn
how to get involved in this important civic
activity and use the SAF site for information
resources to assist you as a participant.
[more]
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| STAKES AND STAKEHOLDERS IN THE U.S.-SAUDI COMMERCIAL RELATIONSHIP by Kevin Taecker |
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This short study examines the importance of
Saudi Arabia to America as a commercial
partner, in the past and for the long-term.
Compared to America's other major suppliers
of imported oil, the commercial relationship
between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia has been
remarkably balanced. |
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Over
the last decade, Saudi Arabia's overall
commercial relationship with the United
States has been remarkably balanced. This is
in sharp contrast to all of America's other
major suppliers of imported oil, where the
relationships can be characterized by their
deep and chronic deficits for the United
States.
There are also
intangible but nevertheless real benefits
deriving from the role Saudi Arabia plays to
stabilize oil markets in the face of
numerous unexpected supply disruptions
caused by others - whether out of malice or
because of political or technical failures.
For the global economy Saudi Arabia is the
"Federal Reserve of oil." No other
has such large capabilities to raise output
in order to fill supply gaps as they occur.
By paying the expense to maintain that
capacity, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly
cushioned the global economy from hundreds
of billions of dollars of costs that would
have had to be paid were oil prices allowed
to spiral out of control.
[more] |
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| FACTOID |
While
'springing ahead' on your clocks this
weekend consider:
o All of Saudi Arabia is in one time
zone.
o Saudi Arabia is three hours ahead
of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). |
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| ON
THE BOOKSHELF |
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From
"Saudi Arabia and the United
States - Birth of a Security
Partnership," by Parker T.
Hart
"During the
Truman-Eisenhower era, the United
States sought to bolster
anticommunist forces all along the
southern perimeter of the Soviet
Union and communist China.
However, while understandable in
the aftermath of the Soviet
takeover in Eastern Europe; Soviet
threats to independence of Greece,
Turkey, and Iran; and the Korean
War, the U.S. policy did not
dovetail comfortably with
realities in the Middle East...
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...Of
the Arab states with which
Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles sought to form a
"second tier" of
containment, only Jordan and Saudi
Arabia at that time maintained a
degree of meaningful solidarity
with US policy... ....Jordan and
Saudi Arabia felt common cause
with the Dulles-Eisenhower defense
program..."
[more] |
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