Customer Reviews

Saudi Arabia: The Ceaseless Quest for Security (Cornell Paperbacks)

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If you want to know the truth about what is happening in Arabia under the Sa'uds, don't buy this book; it is CIA propaganda.

That said, this book is a rare find - a known piece of CIA clandestine publishing verified to be propaganda by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights of the United States Congress. In that regard, it is a valuable example of government clandestine publishing.

CIA, under the Directorship of William Casey, had secretly paid Nadar Safran $107, 430 to underwrite this book - Saudi Arabia: The Ceaseless Quest for Security". Congressman Don Edwards (D-CA) complained in 1986 "The CIA also underwrote with $45,700 a symposium on Islamic fundamentalism organized by Safran, without telling either Harvard or the participants of the CIA involvement."

The target of this CIA information warfare is the American public. The government does not want us voters knowing what is really happening in oil-rich countries ruled by CIA-installed and maintained dictators, kings, and other despots.

Congressman Edwards asked "How many books, magazines and newspapers are there in the US that are in reality CIA propaganda? How many professors and clergymen are on its payroll? . . . The question will always be: Is it honest or is it CIA?" .

This book analyzes the development of Saudi security policies and their impact on Saudi domestic and foreign policy.
Anyone interested in understanding Saudi-American defense relationships should start with this book.
The author does an excellent job of bringing together a wide range of sources in an area of history with very few good sources.
The book pre-dates the 1990-91 Gulf War but is good background for the development of the war and understanding U.S. policy
leading to the war.

This book is one of a kind. Many political histories have been written about Saudi(The coming fall fo the house of Saud by Aburish) and many critiques of Sadui have been written(Crude Politics) and their are few if any books examining the Saudi military. The Saudis joined in all the wars against Israel and used the Oil weapon after the 1973 war.

The Saudis have also come into conflict with many of their neighboors. For instance in the 1950s-60s the Saudis supported the Yemeni royalty in their struggle against the Egyptian supported Nationalists. Suadi saw Nasserism as a threat to its security. The Saudis also imposd their will on the UAE, Bahrain and Oman. The other walks you through Saudis dispuits with each of tis small gulf neighboors and the border issues with Yemen and Oman.

The Saudis greatest threat has come from Iran and Iraq. The Shi'ite revolution of 1979 saw the Saudis worried about tensions in their own police state against the Shiite minority. This amazing book explores this problem in detail. THis book also deals with the problems of Saddam Hussein and a strong Iraq.

A very neccesary read to understand the police state of Saudi and why it has been able to exist so long without a threat to its fuedal royal family.