Saudi Arabia and the US since 1962: Allies in Conflict

by Naif bin Hethlain

Since the 1960s, Saudi Arabia and the US have maintained a strategic alliance that has often assumed the form of a delicate diplomatic balancing act.

Characterized by overlapping interests and mutual dependency – the US on the Kingdom for its oil and regional influence, Saudi Arabia on the US for security and legitimacy – Saudi–US relations have withstood successive changes of kings and presidents alike.

In considering the two nations’ complex relationship, Naif bin Hethlain revisits critical turning points such as Egypt’s involvement in Yemen, the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, the Iran–Iraq War, both US-led Gulf Wars and 9/11, among others. He argues that good Saudi–US relations are indispensable to the stability of the Middle East.

Balanced, insightful and exhaustively researched, Saudi Arabia and the US since 1962 is a nuanced assessment of more than forty-five years of geopolitics.


Naif bin Hethlain completed his PhD at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. He lives and works in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

300 pages, Hardcover

First published December 21, 2010