Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Διεθνής Διακυβέρνηση και ΠολιτικήLibrary of the Faculties of Political Science and Public Administration, Communication and Mass Media Studies, Turkish and Modern Asian Studies, Sociology
Supervisors info:
Εκάβη Αθανασοπούλου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Η σχέση των ΗΠΑ με τη Σαουδική Αραβία μετά την 11η Σεπτεμβρίου
Translated title:
US - Saudi Arabia relations after September 11th
Summary:
The September 11 attacks of 2001 were a turning point in international relations, reshaping the geopolitical landscape and radically affecting the alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia. In the years following the terrorist attacks, many in the United States criticized the country's alliance with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia given the fact that fifteen of the nineteen hijackers, as well as Osama bin Laden, were Saudi citizens. This paper will attempt to answer why the alliance between the two countries survived after the events of September 11 by examining the reasons that helped it endure. The analysis begins by exploring the historical foundations of the US- Saudi relationship, with emphasis on the Cold War era. The subsequent post-9/11 landscape is analysed and then the paper explores how common interests, such as energy security and regional stability, acted as binding factors. To carry out this analysis, the paper will draw on Stephen Walt's theory of alliances as a theoretical framework. Walt's alliance theory provides the appropriate theoretical framework for examining both the factors of alliance formation and the factors of their dissolution and maintenance, thus allowing for a more holistic assessment of the US-Saudi alliance.
Main subject category:
Social, Political and Economic sciences
Keywords:
Saudi Arabia, United States of America, Alliance, Stephen Walt, Balance of Threat
