Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection

by Medea Benjamin

The diminutive co-founder of Code Pink has become famous for fearlessly tackling head-on subjects the left and right studiously avoid. Sometimes, she does so in person--as at President Obama's speech at the National Defense College, or in Egypt, where she was assaulted by police. Here, she's researching the sinister nature of the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

In seven succinct chapters followed by a meditation on prospects for change, Benjamin--cited by the L.A. Times as "one of the high profile members of the peace movement"--shines a light on one of the weirder, and most important, elements of our foreign policy. What is the origin of this strange alliance between two countries that have very little in common? Why does it persist, and what are its consequences? Why, over a period of decades and across various presidential administrations, has the United States consistently supported a regime shown time and again to be one of the most powerful forces working against American interests? Saudi Arabia is perhaps the single most important source of funds for terrorists worldwide, promoting an extreme interpretation of Islam along with anti-Western sentiment, while brutally repressing non-violent dissidents at home.

Genres: Politics, History, Middle East, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2016

About the author

Benjamin grew up in Long Island, New York, a self-described "nice Jewish girl." During her freshman year at Tufts University, she renamed herself after the Greek mythological character Medea. She received master's degrees in public health from Columbia University and in economics from The New School.

Benjamin worked for 10 years as an economist and nutritionist in Latin America and Africa for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the Institute for Food and Development Policy. She spent four years in Cuba, and has authored three books on the country.

In 1988 with Kevin Danaher, her husband, and Kirsten Moller, Benjamin co-founded the San Francisco-based Global Exchange, which advocates fair trade alternatives to what she describes as corporate globalization. She is a co-founder of the left-wing feminist anti-war group Code Pink: Women for Peace, which advocated an end to the Iraq War, the prevention of future wars, and social justice. Benjamin has also been involved with the left-wing anti-war organization United for Peace and Justice.

Reviews

[Katherine Liddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched and clearly written primer on US-Saudi relations.

Given the huge influence KSA has over US media, government spending and foreign policy, I would recommend this book as essential reading for all US tax payers.

[David Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's what Medea Benjamin does quite well: She describes, without resorting to panicky hyperbole or histrionics, the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its relationship with the United States since its formation in the 1930s. That history includes the al-Saud family's embrace of Wahhabism and imposing this interpretation of Sunn'i Islam not just on the kingdom's subjects, but also the millions of workers brought in from other countries for menial labor (who are frequently ripped off and abused) and any Westerner who ventures outside his or her corporate compound.

Here's what Medea Benjamin does in the introduction but not sufficiently, in my view: She takes some pains to caution readers not to conflate Wahhabism with mainstream Islam, or Saudi laws and customs with those of most Muslim nations. The Saudis are the exception, not the rule. Americans often think of Iran under the ayatollahs as the ultimate in repressed societies, but Iran looks downright permissive compared to the KSA. Benjamin should have placed a reminder at the head of every chapter that the nation ranked consistently the top violator of human rights is an important US ally, which says a lot about the US.

Beyond that, Kingdom of the Unjust is an excellent and necessary book. Benjamin began it before the US got involved in the KSA's military escapade in Yemen, the Kingdom's first act of international aggression (unless you count the Yom Kippur War of 1973). It helps to know which side the US has taken in that conflict (spoiler alert: it's the side with all the oil & all the money).

[Nishant Jha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The moment I read about this book, I knew I had to read this, thanks to the interesting topic. The book is very informative, well formatted, easy to follow and very brilliantly researched. It explains the history, background, reasons and ramifications of the US-KSA relationship in easy words. It is definite must-read for everyone interested in this topic.

[Jules Findlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a factual account of the U.S relationship with Saudi Arabia. Really timely in the context of the American election. Medea Benjamin is looking to inform rather than entertain - and it does inform, with really rather shocking revelations.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great primer on Saudi Arabia. Highly recommended.

[Reid tries to read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saudi Arabia is probably the worst country on the face of the planet; a place which is everything American imperialists believe North Korea to be and then some. It is a nation run by a conservative monarchy that controls around 16% of the world’s oil supply (the second most on Earth behind Venezuela). The only democratically elected bodies in the country are at the municipal level, where their jobs are essentially glorified maintenance men and trash collectors. Oil was found in Saudi Arabia by the Standard Oil Company (now Chevron) in the 1930s. Standard Oil and 3 other partners who eventually became Exxon, Texaco, and Mobil established the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) in conjunction with the Saudi monarchy. In 1980 the Saudi government purchased the entire company, renaming it Saudi Aramco, which employs today about 55,000 people and is considered the richest company in the world. The company generates $1 billion dollars a day and is estimated to be valued between $1 trillion to $10 dollars.


Saudi Arabia is a hyper-militaristic society. It provides funding to foreign leaders such as Egyptian president (dictator) Abdel Fattah El-Sisi while it also spends double the amount on its military (25% of its annual budget) than it provides for healthcare and social development. It is also a society controlled by religious fundamentalists. From its inception, the Saudi ruling family made deals with Wahhabist clerics to promote conservative Islamic fundamentalism in exchange for supporting the monarchy. Today, Saudi Arabia has literal “religious police” that enforce things such as strict dress codes, patriarchal social relations, and bans on alcohol. They have been known to beat people to death for having alcohol or hold women in solitary confinement for riding in taxis without an accompanying guardian.


All the normal bastions of liberalism upheld as examples of “freedom” are absent in the kingdom of the Sauds. Saudi Arabia bans the practice of any religion other than the state sanctioned practices of its own ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam. The practice of other religions (or being an outspoken atheist), as well as any critiques of Saudi religious leaders or religious practices is punishable by death. This punishment can include lashes, being stoned, being beheaded, and even being crucified. Saudi Arabia also ruthlessly clamps down on its press and media while monitoring the foreign press as well. Any members of the foreign press who wish to come into Saudi Arabia must be allowed into the country by the government, where they are then thoroughly monitored by government agents. If any members of the press, either foreign or domestic, upset the government in any way they may be arrested, deported, and permanently banned from re-entry into Saudi Arabia. Since 2011 all public gatherings in Saudi Arabia have been banned by threat of imprisonment. There are also no labor unions in Saudi Arabia, largely because there are no laws to protect most workers’ rights, especially the right to form a union.
While torture is technically banned under the Saudi legal system, the reality of the situation (backed by copious amounts of evidence such as the testimonies of former prisoners) is that torture is systematically practiced throughout Saudi jails and prisons. In all likelihood, most confessions used to imprison people throughout the kingdom are coerced through torture. When it comes to state sanctioned killings, China and Iran are the only countries who use the death penalty more than Saudi Arabia. Most people in Saudi Arabia who are executed are done so for non-violent crimes, most often drug related offenses. Other “crimes'' punishable by death are homosexuality, denouncing Sunni Islam, and being accused of sorcery and witchcraft. In fact, between 2013-2014 nearly 200 people were accused and indicted for sorcery in the Saudi kingdom. Despite all this, thanks to U.S. pressure and collusion with the UK, Saudi Arabia was granted a seat on the UN human rights council in 2013.
The ultraconservative theocratic monarchy also enforces 2 other abusive systems of oppression through Saudi Arabia: one of “gender apartheid” as well as one of slave labor which essentially built the country into the economic powerhouse it is today. Under the gender apartheid system, women in Saudi Arabia are legally considered ‘minors’ who need the permission of a male ‘guardian’ to do just about anything. Women cannot marry, travel, be hired for a job, or enroll for an education without their guardian’s permission. Saudi women are banned from playing sports, leading to them dying at younger ages than their male counterparts while being more susceptible to conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Saudi women are also completely banned from doing activities such as riding bikes unless it’s in state sanctioned parks. All workplaces besides hospitals have legally enforced sex segregation. All restaurants are segregated by “men” and “family” (I.e women and their guardian) eating sections, lines, entrances, bathrooms, etc. Here is a common scenario Saudi women face: a woman is physically and sexually abused by her guardian. She finally gains the courage to tell the police, where she is then arrested for disobeying her guardian.
The system of slave labor in Saudi Arabia is even more horrific. Between 1973-1985 the Saudi population doubled thanks to a flood of migrant workers coaxed into providing cheap labor for Saudi Arabia’s immense oil refineries. These migrants first came primarily from Arab countries and were generally poor and unskilled. Today they make up around 1/3 of the population and fill up 1/2 of the jobs (around 80% of the private sector is staffed by migrant laborers). Most are the modern day equivalent of slave laborers since they can be bought, sold, and traded through a sponsorship system as they work the lowest, most repulsive grunt work that most Saudis refuse to do. The fact that this system survives today isn’t surprising; slavery wasn’t banned in Saudi Arabia until 1962 when the country still had 30,000 slaves. Under the sponsorship system, migrant workers are ‘attached’ to a Saudi resident to work under, who can then unilaterally decide to deport the migrants, withhold payments from them, or trade/sell them to other sponsors. This is a legally protected practice. Since workers leaving their sponsors is illegal, and runaways are arrested and deported, many workers are blackmailed into working against their will. These unprotected slaves make up over 1/2 of the people put to death throughout the theocratic state.
In 1979 Saudi Arabia began exporting its ultraconservative Wahhabist interpretation of Islam in response to the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet intervention into Afghanistan. The Iranian revolutionaries promoted a competing interpretation of Islam that undermined the Saudi’s, which became apparent when Wahhabists inspired by the revolution seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca and called for Saudi Arabia’s rulers to be overthrown because they had been corrupted by Western influence. The Saudis (with the help of French special forces) battled and eventually retook the Mosque at the cost of hundreds of deaths by both sides. The fear this event produced led the Saudi ruling class to implement a new policy: Saudi oil money would be spent spreading and promoting Wahhabism across the region (and eventually the globe) in order to rebuild the stature of the Saudi monarchy and undermine Iran’s own opposing Islamic ideology. They then used the Soviet-Afghan intervention as a safety valve to release the pent-up pressure of internal Saudi radical Islamists, such as Osama Bin Laden, by sending them into Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and defend Islam against ‘atheist communists’. The Muslim World League (MWL) became an NGO the Saudis used to help spread Wahhabism globally. The Saudi ministry of religion also purchased almost every Islamic publishing house around the world and built schools across the Middle East with the sole purpose of spreading Wahhabist propaganda; this process costs the Saudi government about $4 billion a year. Overall the Saudi government and the NGOs they funded built over 15,000 Mosques and 2,000 schools across the world. It isn’t fair to say Saudi Arabia is solely responsible for the zeitgeist of the ‘war on terror’ that we live under today, but nobody played a bigger part in its birth than perhaps the United States. Along with the CIA, Saudi Arabia funded, recruited shock troops for, and trained the Taliban; Saudi Arabia built nearly every single school in Pakistan with the sole purpose of turning that country into a center for Wahhabism; Pakistan, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were then the only 3 countries to establish diplomatic ties with the Taliban government once it violently seized control of Afghanistan. 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi, and hijacker Omar al-Bayoumi has been proven by the FBI to have been a Saudi intelligence agent, giving Saudi Arabia a direct link to the hijackings. Throughout the war on terror Saudi Arabia has remained the world’s greatest funder of terrorism. Just ask Hillary Clinton who, while Secretary of State in 2009, claimed in a cable leaked by Wikileaks that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorists groups worldwide.”. During the Iraq war the majority of foreign suicide bombers were from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s billions of dollars it spends in Africa has fed off of the continent’s poverty to produce extremist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria, whose leader eventually fled to Saudi Arabia. In Syria, clerics in Saudi Arabia helped produce ISIS when they called for a Jihad against Syria’s Shia president Bashar al-Assad. In 2014 Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry claimed that at least 12,000-25,000 Saudis had gone to Syria to join ISIS, an organization which has taken Wahhabist ideology to its most extreme form. Private wealthy Saudis provided the seed capital needed for ISIS to really take off the ground. Despite using ISIS to fight a proxy war with Syria, it and other extremist groups have engaged in terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabia itself in a quintessential case of ‘blowback’.
So why has America supported this monstrosity for nearly a century? Oil baby. As soon as oil was found in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s, and US oil companies set up shop, defending Saudi Arabia’s oil supply became a cornerstone of American foreign policy. In 1945 FDR formalized the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States when he met with their king at the Suez Canal. There they came to a formal agreement, under which the United States would provide military support for Saudi Arabia as long as Saudi Arabia continues to provide the United States oil, which persists to this very day. In 1973, when Nixon finally took the gold standard out to the pastures after he finally took the U.S. off it, Saudi Arabia provided oil that the U.S. could solidify the dollar’s value with. They did this by agreeing to only sell their oil in dollars, after which Saudi Arabia reinvested these ‘petrodollars’ back into U.S. banks and Wall Street (AKA petrodollar recycling). Today Saudi Arabia is the largest foreign customer for American military equipment, with open purchases of about $97 billion ongoing. Saudi Arabia uses these weapons to bully its neighbors and enforce its foreign policy goals, which are to undermine Iran, maintain the value of Saudi oil, and promote the dominance of the Saudi ruling class over the Middle East as a whole.
Saudi Arabia has by far the largest military expenditure per capita in the world. While the United States spends around $1000 per person in America on its military, the Saudis spend around $6000 per Saudi on military expenses. This money is spent building an army whose structural deficiencies make it very incompetent. The military is split into two forces, the more effective of which is the national guard, whose main duty is to ensure that the Saudi royal family remains in power against any threat, foreign or domestic. The national guard is therefore designed to be superior to the other half of the regular military in case the military attempts to overthrow the Saudi monarchy. Both forces are kept separate from each other and have a mutual distrust/disdain for the other, creating severe communication issues between the two that are almost irreconcilable under the current system. Even though the national guard is the superior fighting force, both sides are incompetent because of the way officers are promoted, which is through nepotistic practices, such as the influence of one’s family, above any type of merit. The officers in both armies are very much disconnected from their subordinates, creating a chain of command that is inefficient and filled with mutual resentment.
Within the region Saudi Arabia’s biggest rival is Iran. The reason for this is because the Iranian revolution was primarily an anti-American revolution. Saudi Arabia, being an American puppet, was therefore put in direct conflict with the Ayatollah Khomeini, and his revolutionaries’ critiques of Saudi Arabia as an American puppet state made it clear his new regime was not too fond of the Saudi ruling class either. Khomeini's political critique of Saudi Arabia connected to and reinforced his religious criticism of the kingdom, and he and his supporters claimed that Saudi Arabia cannot be the true protectorate of Islam because of their subordination to the west and the west’s ’anti-Islamic values’. Iran poses a threat to Saudi Arabia due to its connection with the Shia minority inside of the Saudi kingdom. Most of the oil fields in Saudi Arabia are in a small territory populated by Shia Muslims who, like all non-Sunnis, are treated as second class citizens. It is possible that if conditions for these Shias become bad enough, and if Iran (who is predominantly Shia) becomes strong enough, then Iran could help provide support for the Saudi Shias should they choose to secede. If this were to successfully happen, Saudi Arabia’s ruling class would essentially be stripped of all their oil that their wealth is based on. Although, at face value, Saudi Arabia claims to be mortal enemies with Israel, who they have never held diplomatic relations with in fact, both US puppet states are actually quite cozy due to their shared animosity towards Iran. Saudi Arabia, although supposedly in support of Palestinian sovereignty, explicitly does not support Hamas. In 2015 Saudi Arabia admitted to holding secret talks with Israel where the two exchanged intelligence information.


In general, Saudi Arabian imperialist reach has a wide range. For example, they helped support the coup that overthrew Gaddafi in Libya, and they are the main financiers of Syrian radical muslim rebels against Bashir al-Assad. During the Arab Spring uprising Saudi Arabia supported reactionary monarchies against various populist uprisings. In Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began, the Saudi monarchy allowed Tunisia’s monarch to flee to Saudi Arabia. In Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt they sent financial help to those countries’ respected monarchs/dictators. Saudi Arabia has also always played a pivotal role in Yemen’s politics. In 1990 it opposed the unification of Northern and Southern Yemen, and in 1994 it backed the North against the socialist South in a violent civil war. Afterwards Saudi Arabia funded Wahhabi mosques and schools throughout the country. During the Arab Spring Yemenis rose up against their dictator, who had been in power for 30 years, and demanded a more democratic form of government. The interim president was supposed to rule for two years, but after these years were up he remained in power. In 2014 the World Bank essentially strong armed him into ending fuel subsidies for poor families. This sparked a mass of uprising, especially by Shia rebels. The “president”, who was a Sunni Muslim, fled to Saudi Arabia, set up an interim government, and begged for the Saudis to intervene on his behalf, which they did. Over the coming years tens of thousands would be killed and 14 million of the country's 23 million people would become food insecure as most of the population faced the serious possibility of starvation; especially impacted were the children of Yemen.

[Adrian David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astute critical analysis of the longstanding strategic alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Political activist Medea Benjamin traces back the ever-growing marriage of convenience in the post-9/11 political climate all the way to its roots during the year when oil was first discovered in the newly-founded kingdom.

She highlights the irony of how the ‘land of the free’ is supporting an iron-fisted monarchy with a poor human rights record, especially with regards to women and religious minorities. Despite its darker side – its export of the puritanical Wahhabi ideology, rampant abuse of migrant workers, income inequality, and the lesser-known poverty – the desert kingdom has found a relentless ally in the United States, thanks to the latter’s overdependence on oil.

The author further explores how excessive political lobbying powered by the influx of petrodollars is giving Saudi Arabia the upper hand in the Middle East’s Cold War. The book offers many valid arguments, thereby urging the US to reevaluate its ongoing friendship with the kingdom.

The USA and the KSA may be like chalk and cheese, but at the end of the day, they are mutually dependent on one another. As a popular adage says, “In politics, there are no permanent friends nor permanent enemies, there are only permanent interests.”

[Ms. Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review....

This book is a "not for me" type of book. I tried my hardest to read through it, but the author does so little to keep your attention, to keep it interested, let alone captivating. I was bored, for the details were often dull and repetitive. I also found it very confusing to follow, just from the authors style of writing. In the end, I was glad to put it away and be done with it for me. Just not my type of book.

[Assya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first book on Saudi Arabia and my first time reading Medea Benjamin. I really, really enjoyed the book. It was written in a wonderfully engaging and easy to follow fashion. Concise guide to the modern Saudi state and it's international relations. I highly recommend this to people new to learning about Saudi Arabia and I definitely will pick up more of Benjamin's work.

[Julie Cardinal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for a book club.

If you are looking for a basic understanding of Middle Eastern politics and the ways that the United States enables Saudi Arabia, this is an easy to understand read.

I learned a ton, but did not feel like I was reading a textbook.

[Ali Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book the writer debunks immaculately myriad fake myths pertaining to the US and the KSA.

First of all, she unveiled the grim facts which have dwelled into general Muslims' mind that the KSA is the embodiment of Islam. Inside the Kingdom, every facet of life from socio-politico-ecomic to religious has been segregated.

Secondly, gender inequality is at its zenith in the Kingdom. Women are considered as men's property. They cannot go anywhere freely, none of them can even watch the sports as spectators. Moreover, first school for girls was established in 1960 by the state.

Thirdly, in Islamic studies textbooks the KSA inculcate that "Christians, jews, Shi'ites and Sufi Muslims are enemies of true believer." They used all their oil wealth to spread Wahhabi ideology and sponsoring terrorism abroad.

Fourthly, she speaks loud on the reasons behind the US-Saudi bond. In addition, she asserts that even though the KSA was initially neutral in Second World War, the two allies joind hand to curb "godless communism." At the end she unfurl the privy that how the both countries got together in 1980s to fight against the USSR by using Pakistan as a proxy and creating Mujahideen, who later became a perpetual menace for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Last but not least the fact she has unveiled that the religious ideologies of the KSA, terrorists and the so called ISIS are same. The US knows this fact, nevertheless, it is nourishing its bonds with the kingdom because the KSA is the largest avenue of weapon sales which is valued at approximately 97 billion dollars.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book in a thrift store and it was a signed copy!!! It was easy to read and quite frankly addicting. I connected so much parallels between historical events and my upbringing in that country, from social events to political shut downs. Medea Benjamin is truly a feminist icon and so is everyone in code pink activist groups.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative for sure. Rather depressing and enlightening to see that we are allies with a country that oppresses women & does not really respect us. Plus the fact that there are the same class struggles there as here is a correlation I will not forget.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read - well researched, well presented, logical and easy to understand.

[Brian Mikołajczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

An analysis of the Saudi-US alliance and how the Saudis have continually undermined the US. The book further looks at how women are oppressed in the theocratic kingdom.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent in depth look at Saudi-U.S. arrangements. Helped me see beyond the headlines and news reporting.

[Shanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful pastime and a mind-opening experience. I love the author. She is so brave!! A hero and a writer. The book is in a question and answer format. The words that are written are so simple to understand yet so detailed.

This a political book that shouldn't be missed!

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you did or did not want to know about Saudi Arabia.
PS, history, war were 3 of my undergrad studies.

Could even be a college textbook.

This stuff I still keep daily up on. I seldom miss the worldly news.

Warning: This book is for adults only & contains extreme violent or graphic adult content, &/or sexually explicit scenarios. It may be offensive to some readers.

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. Wow, a very well written YA mystery book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great mystery movie, college PP presentation, or better yet a TV mini TV series (History channel). A very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free Goodreads; MakingConnections; O.R. Books; paperback book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Roueida · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading Kingdom of the Unjust I kept thinking the title could easily have been "An Unjust Union: The U.S. - Saudi Connection." Medea Benjamin provides deeply troubling details of this complex relationship that has such far reaching consequences in terms of the continuing destabilization of the Middle East, a disregard for human life and ecological degradation due to rapacious imperialism. It also provides a helpful background on the development of Islamic fanaticism, the vilification of the Moslem faith and it's connection to the imperialist agenda. Thank you Medea Benjamin for bringing this important information to light! I highly recommend this factual quick read!

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presented in an FAQ format, this book offers a clear and up-to-date overview of Saudi human rights abuses and propagation of Wahhabism, the role of oil in the Saudi government and economy, and the extent of the U.S.–Saudi relationship.