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SAUDI-US RELATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE

                                                                     September 30, 2003 

 

Saudi-US Relations Information Service (SUSRIS) &
Saudi-American Forum (SAF) Quarterly Summary
A Review of July - September 2003 Production 

 
 
HRH Prince Saud Al-Faisal
Foreign Minister of the 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the U.S.-Arab Economic Forum
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - September 30, 2003]

In an address to the US-Arab Economic Forum (Sep 28-30) in Detroit Prince Saud Al-Faisal discussed the U.S.-Saudi Arabian relationship -- its background, status and prospects -- and developments in the Middle East.

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The United States Must Not Neglect Saudi Arabian Investment
By Tanya C. Hsu
[SAF Essay - September 23, 2003]

Saudi Arabians have allocated an estimated 60% of their global investments to the United States through passive and direct investments. This commitment has enabled the United States to finance an ongoing trade deficit and produce new economic growth opportunities.  Objections and barriers to Saudi investment in the United States are on the rise. Although most are baseless and even discriminatory, their impact could be multiplied in the current market environment. Promotion agencies across the globe are maneuvering to attract and keep foreign investment. The Kingdom's own market climate has opened and become highly attractive for Saudi investors. America must eliminate growing impediments to Saudi and other foreign investment in the United States in order to remain competitive.

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Saudi Officials Take on Challenges in the Media
Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Prince Turki Al-Faisal Respond to Charges
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - September 12, 2003]


Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal (L) and Ambassador to the UK Prince Turki Al-Faisal (R)

"We are angry when we are accused without being given a chance to defend ourselves. When no matter what you do, it is considered a public relations gimmick rather than a real effort. That isn't the way that friends treat each other. If you are complaining about something I have done, and I do something about it, some appreciation is shown, amongst friends. Yet, whatever we do is just water under the bridge, and they go to another attack. It starts with the 15 people on the planes that created this catastrophe. Then, the accusation was that the ulema [Saudi religious leaders] were talking and encouraging [extremism], the schools were creating terrorists." - Prince Saud Al-Faisal
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Saudi-American Forum Interview
Ambassador Chas W. Freeman
A Relationship in Transition
[SAF Interview Series - September 4,2003]

"In the first installment of our interview with Ambassador Chas Freeman, he noted the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia had undergone a transformation by the time America was attacked on 9/11. After the fall of the Soviet Union potentially fractious issues set aside during years of Cold War cooperation, coupled with U.S. policies and military footprint in the region as well as a social reform agenda among some Americans, emerged as irritants in the relationship. Meanwhile the effort to bridge the understanding gap between American and Saudi publics fell well short of what was necessary to ensure both sides appreciated the nature and importance of the relationship..."

Part I - A Relationship in Transition -- And Then 9/11  [HTML]  [PDF] 

Part II - A Relationship in Transition -- 9/11, Then What?  [HTML]  [PDF]

Part III - A Relationship in Transition -- What Is To Be Done  [HTML]  [PDF]
Whither Saudi Arabia?
Three Authors Try to Penetrate a Middle East Enigma
By David Long
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - September 4, 2003]

...Taken together, these three books do more to detract from than to add to the understanding of Saudi Arabia, its people, its government and its religious creed... ...greater understanding does increase the chances of better analyzing the true nature of our mutual interests and antagonisms and, taking both into account, of formulating more effective policies to maximize the one and reduce the other...
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Flogging the Arabs for Votes?
The 2004 U.S. Presidential Election and the Middle East
By David T. Dumke
[SAF Essay - September 3, 2003]

...During the 2004 election cycle, relations with Saudi Arabia, in particular, will be an issue... 
...regional issues � security issues to the American electorate � are being used in a variety of ways along the campaign trail. Candidates are trying to win votes, and naturally address the issues that are on the minds of most voters. This year, the Middle East is a domestic campaign issue...
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Mission Complete: 
Operation Southern Watch Forces in Saudi Arabia Deactivated
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - August 30, 2003]

"...this won't be the end of coming to Saudi Arabia. We've been working with our friends from Prince Sultan for seven years; we're beginning a new relationship with the Royal Saudi Air Force..."
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Saudi Arabia:  Current Issues and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service Issue Brief for Congress
By Alfred B. Prados
Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - August 21, 2003]

SUMMARY

Saudi Arabia, a monarchy ruled by the Saudi dynasty, enjoys special importance in the international community because of its unique association with the Islamic religion and its oil wealth. Since the establishment of the modern Saudi kingdom in 1932, it has benefited from a stable political system based on a smooth process of succession to the throne and an increasingly prosperous economy dominated by the oil sector. Decrees by King Fahd in March 1992 establishing an appointive consultative council and provincial councils and promulgating a basic law providing for certain citizens' rights could signal a gradual trend toward a more open political system.
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At Your Service: Future U.S. Service Exports to Saudi Arabia
By Grant F. Smith 
[SAF Essay - August 20, 2003]

Executive Summary

U.S. service exports over the past ten years have achieved steady successes in the Saudi market, growing on average 5.31% per year. Government sponsored changes in the Kingdom including privatization, Saudization, exploration and infrastructure projects that will accelerate service demand over the coming decade. Many barriers to foreign service providers such as majority ownership requirements, onerous taxation, and import tariffs have been reduced or eliminated. Now, American service providers must effectively confront supply side obstacles that could diminish a $41.8 billion export opportunity over the coming decade.
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The Crucibles:  9/11, Afghanistan and the Fashioning of a Foe
[Part II]
By Gregory J. H. Dowling 
[SAF Essay - August 13, 2003]

Those who assert that Saudi Arabian involvement in the Afghani-Soviet conflict directly links the Kingdom with Islamic militancy are neglecting the fact that neither Saudi Arabia nor the United States were allowed to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the clash. It was, in fact, Pakistan who created and used the militant and fundamentalist Muslim movement as a tool to manage troubles that might spill over the border into Pakistan. In their efforts, the Pakistani government greatly increased the number of religious schools, or madrasas, in order to collect and mobilize Afghani youth to fight the Soviet Union. Upon the Soviet withdrawal, these schools would give rise to the Taliban. It was the inter-state movement of people organized primarily by the Pakistanis and Muslim Brotherhood that connected the various singular Muslim entities and imparted them with the organizational and military skills they employ today. So, while the Saudis and the CIA were involved in the conflict, the incubator of modern militant Islam was Pakistan. As both Saudi and US involvement aided in ridding Afghanistan of the Soviet Union, they also facilitated Pakistan�s creation of the breeding ground for al Qaeda. Now the two nations must unite under the new common goal of ridding the Middle East of the militant fundamentalists.
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Saudis Reject Bin Laden and Terrorism
By James Zogby 
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - August 13, 2003]

What are Saudi attitudes toward terrorism, bin Laden, and the United States?  These are questions that have plagued U.S. policymakers and the American people for the past two years.
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Views on the Saudi-U.S. Relationship 
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - August 12, 2003]

Terrorism: Trial by Media Will Not Do
Dr. Sulaiman Al-Juraid

While it is true that some Saudi nationals were among the terrorists of Sept. 11, it is a far cry from saying that the Saudi government or the Saudi people were somehow involved or condoned such a diabolical crime. If we accept this kind of logic, then we would conclude that the U.S. government and the American people were somehow involved in terrorism because John Walker, an American citizen, was caught with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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The Civilization Bridge That Never Was 
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi

A Saudi concerned with the state of our relations with the West in general and the United States in particular asked me: �Who is responsible for the mess? Us or them?�
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On Terrorism, Methodism, Saudi "Wahhabism," 
and the Censored 9-11 Report
By Gary Leupp
[SAF Item of Interest - August 12, 2003]
"Kernel of Evil"

Two scandals unfold simultaneously: the larger, centering on administration lies concerning the threat posed by Iraq, and Baghdad's supposed connections to al-Qaeda; the smaller (which might be a tempest in a teapot) on alleged connections between al-Qaeda and Saudi officialdom. They may well impact one another as Congress resumes its investigations next month. While it seems implausible that Riyadh would deliberately support terrorist attacks on the U.S., the neocons running the show in Washington have asserted propositions equally improbable, and (so far) gotten away with it; and they would very much like to see regime change in Saudi Arabia. Conceivably, as they feel the heat of investigations and mounting public concern about the results of the war on Iraq, they will feel the need to create a distraction. What better way to do that than to whip up fears about Saudi Arabia, which some of them consider the real "kernel of evil" in the Middle East?
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The Crucibles:  9/11, Afghanistan and the Fashioning of a Foe 
[Part I]
By Gregory J. H. Dowling 
[SAF Essay - August 7, 2003]

Executive Summary [Part I]

The events of 9/11 have altered our vision of the future and they have done the same for our perception of the past. Our psychological inability to associate al Qaeda with CIA influences in its creation has forced us, mostly through the mainstream media, to link the organization with another nation: Saudi Arabia. However, the purported links between the Kingdom and al Qaeda can be either dismissed or explained differently once an informed, objective perspective is used. Furthermore, the alleged association between al Qaeda and the Kingdom�s government is even more absurd when one realizes that the Saudi government and al Qaeda are equally and fundamentally in combat against each other. So, while many may point to Saudi participation in the Afghani conflict as evidence of its willingness to promote extremist Islam, their role was, in fact, a defensive one aimed at protecting itself from just such militancy.
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Saudi Government Counterterrorism-
Counter Extremism Actions
By Anthony H. Cordesman
[SUSRIS Item of Interest - August 4, 2003]


Crown Prince Abdullah quickly addressed Saudi Arabians following the May bombings in Riyadh, condemning those responsible and vowing to bring them to justice.
I do not wish to be an apologist for Saudi Arabia. It has made many mistakes, and it faces major challenges to its stability. I do, however, find that the present flood of charges being made by people with little or no real experience in the country and often are based on unsourced or suspect data. What should be serious articles and media coverage is often filled with financial guesstimates that cannot be validated, and loose chains of guilt by association that confuse Saudi government carelessness with the deliberate support of terrorism. Far too many charges are being made by people who have never read a Saudi budget or five-year plan, never really talked to Saudi clerics, or examined the progress the Kingdom has actually made.
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Internet May Lubricate Politics and Economies in Arab World
by Jim Landers/The Dallas Morning News 
[SAF Item of Interest - July 24, 2003]

Internet May Lubricate Politics and Economies in Arab World
By Jim Landers / The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON � There's a hopeful thread to follow through the tangled reform efforts for the Arab world's sick economies, where repressive regimes and the yearning for an Islamic alternative too often lead to reactionary violence.

It's the Internet.
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Getting Back on Track:
Saudi Study in the United States
by Grant F. Smith 
[SAF Essay - July 16, 2003]

A February 2003 Institute of International Education (IIE) survey of the top ten American destination universities for international students revealed a disturbing trend. Twenty-four percent of surveyed universities indicated that their Saudi student base had declined. Eighty-three percent indicated that international students who were expected to arrive for the fall 2002 semester were delayed. The survey conclusions also worried that further deteriorating foreign enrollments "cannot be ruled out."
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Common Enemy:  U.S. and Saudi Arabia Unite Against Terrorists
by John Duke Anthony 
[SAF Item of Interest - July 15, 2003]

WASHINGTON--The tragic terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia about a month ago let the world know that the war on terrorism is far from over. The talk of having al-Qaida "on the run" was clearly overly optimistic. Instead of self-destructing, al-Qaida appears to be morphing into something new and perhaps even more dangerous--and not only for America .
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Saudi Arabia:  
A Relationship in Transition?
by Hugh Renfro
[SAF Item of Interest - July 9, 2003]

I have had a 50-year relationship with Saudi Arabia. I worked with the Saudis in the 1950s-60s, before major modernization, and in the 1970s-80s during the boom times when they rebuilt the nation. I worked with labor, business, the government, military, the Bedouins, and the Royal Family.

I have been concerned about the bad press the Saudis have had over the past year. Last December, a good Saudi friend called from Jeddah and said, "�.Hugh, you have to help us. They're killing us in the press, and you know us better than most." And I do.
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The Children of 
Saudi-American Marriages
by Muddassir H. Siddiqui
[SAF Essay - July 2, 2003]

Encouraged by an increase in oil revenues in the 1970s, Saudi Arabia launched an ambitious program of sending a large number of its young citizens overseas to get higher education in developed countries. Since then, more than 200,000 Saudi students have lived and studied in the United States alone.

Simultaneously, a large number of Americans found jobs in Saudi Arabia. For many decades, Saudi Arabia has been host to one of the largest American communities living anywhere outside the United States. It is estimated that currently there are more than 35,000 Americans living in Saudi Arabia.
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Previous Essays and Items of Interest
 


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