Thicker than Oil: America's Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Hardcover)

by Rachel Bronson (Author) "Oh Philby, sighed the king almost beseechingly..." (more)
Key Phrases: religious fighters, terrorist financing, oil policy, Saudi Arabia, United States, Middle East (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post
Eight sheep and 42 courtiers followed King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, afloat in the Red Sea in February 1945, to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The war in Europe was ending, and the oil age had arrived. On his way home from the Yalta summit with Stalin and Churchill, Roosevelt met the Saudi king to secure landing rights in Arabia so he could rush war materiel to the Asian front. More farsightedly, he also wanted to construct a postwar alliance based on oil production and a shared antipathy to Soviet communism. What happened aboard the Quincy during those several wintry days would define the terms -- and the misunderstandings -- at the heart of America's partnership with Saudi Arabia for more than five decades, until Sept. 11, 2001.

Roosevelt was charming and empathetic; he and Abdul Aziz, an erstwhile desert warrior who limped from disease and old battle wounds, bonded immediately over the wonders of the wheelchair. On the main issues -- "oil, God, and real estate," as Rachel Bronson puts it in her well-documented new history of U.S.-Saudi relations -- they also fell into easy, warm agreement.

Crucially, from Abdul Aziz's point of view, FDR sympathized with the king's opposition to a Jewish state in British-ruled Palestine. Aboard the Quincy, Roosevelt promised that before the United States changed its policy toward Palestine, it would consult with all sides; America, he added, would never do anything hostile to the Arabs. President Harry S. Truman, of course, embraced Israel at its birth three years later, to Abdul Aziz's fury. Still, the aging king was much too practical to sever ties with the United States, which was pumping his oil and plying him with gold, and so he forged on with the U.S.-Saudi alliance, more sullen and mistrustful than before.

The same pattern prevailed, to varying degrees, with his sons and successors. Pragmatic self-interest and visceral anticommunism bound the United States and Saudi Arabia together during the Cold War, but persistent, emotional disagreements -- usually about Israel, and often vented in private -- infused the alliance with rancor and doubt. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the two governments drifted apart until the shock of 9/11; the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis forced a new reckoning -- one that remains far from settled.

This is the narrative that Bronson, a scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations, unfurls compactly and intelligently, if a little dryly, in Thicker Than Oil. Bronson's title emphasizes that there has always been more to the partnership than the two sides' cartoon imagery would allow, be it the American caricature of Saudi Arabia as a self-satisfied gas station or the Saudi caricature of the United States as a self-satisfied Humvee nation. The best sections of her impressively researched book explain the complexity and ambition of joint U.S.-Saudi undertakings against communist governments and guerrilla movements during the Cold War -- not only in Afghanistan, where they famously worked during the 1980s to support the mujaheddin fighting the Soviets, but also in the Middle East, Africa and Central America.

Bronson wants her book to be read as a sober, balanced counterweight to "recent books [that] seem more intent on feeding public outrage than on seriously probing" the U.S.-Saudi relationship. She lists as offenders such provocative recent bestsellers as Robert Baer's Sleeping With the Devil and Craig Unger's House of Bush, House of Saud, which accused Washington of selling its soul for crude. Both of those authors railed, on behalf of at least some of the American public, against the individual greed and shady deals that they argue shaped U.S.-Saudi relations at the highest levels before 9/11.

Were those authors utterly wrong? It is hard to tell what Bronson thinks about the emotional core questions, such as whether America's energy-for-security pact with Saudi Arabia is corrupt or corrupting, what values we actually share with the puritanical kingdom and what alternatives to the House of Saud there might be. She slaps the bestsellers aside but never really wrestles with their critiques, disqualifying them as recklessly argued (which, to be fair, they are). As her very conventional list of policy recommendations makes clear (she urges mutual understanding and pragmatic engagement), Bronson is not interested in upending the status quo, and she does not explore the implications of what even an old wildcatter like President Bush has come to acknowledge as America's unhealthy "addiction" to imported oil.

Still, Bronson writes with some verve and skepticism about Saudi Arabia's financial support for radical Islamist groups -- the main irritant in the relationship since 2001. Overall, she has produced a reliable, efficient book that policymakers and regional analysts will find useful. In doing so, however, she has extended a pattern in the bibliography of post-9/11 books about Saudi Arabia (and Saudi journalism about America) in which there seem to be only two categories of authorial voice: the outraged shout and the slightly condescending corrective lecture.

Perhaps that reflects the fact that, between the two publics, the U.S.-Saudi relationship today is colored by mutual disdain as well as mutual dependency. Ordinary Americans and Saudis alike recognize that the alliance that FDR and Abdul Aziz forged aboard the Quincy is in serious trouble. Saudis fume about Guantanamo Bay, Israel and the invasion of Iraq; Americans fume about individual Saudis' funding for al-Qaeda and the Saudi suicide bombers who keep crashing into our troops in Baghdad, apparently funded by $3-a-gallon gasoline. The two governments, however, are loath to address this deterioration of public attitudes too openly, and since they have yet to discover a plausible alternative to their long union, the old ship just rocks along, however queasy its passengers may feel.

Reviewed by Steve Coll
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review

"A thoughtful history of U.S.-Saudi relations. It challenges the common characterization of the relationship as a bargain in which the Saudis provide easy access to oil in exchange for U.S. security guarantees."--Foreign Affairs
"This is the most solid book to date on the vital relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, with important new historical material and a hard-headed look at our tough policy choices for the future."--Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus, The Council on Foreign Relations
"Well researched.... The best sections of her impressively researched book explain the complexity and ambition of joint U.S.-Saudi undertakings against communist governments and guerrilla movements during the Cold War -- not only in Afghanistan...but also in the Middle East, Africa and Central America.... A reliable, efficient book that policymakers and regional analysts will find useful."--Steve Coll, Washington Post Book World
"Dr. Bronson provides a highly readable survey of the twists and turns that have typified the US-Saudi relationship. While there is plenty of intrigue, she also paints a picture of a relationship far more complex than most would expect. The author brings a refreshing sense of balance to one of the hot-button topics of our day. Thicker Than Oil points the way to redefining the national interests of both America and the Saudis." --Robert W. Jordan, United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, 2001-2003
"Rachel Bronson has written a book, at once 'cool' and authoritative, on a subject of great controversy and importance. She makes her own way through the thicket of US-Saudi relations. A work of careful scholarship and analysis loaded with interviews and drawing on a vast literature. No axe to grind, just the story told with care and judgement."--Fouad Ajami, Majid Khadduri Professor and Director of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies
"Thicker Than Oil is a highly-engaging book on a critical topic--the nature and future of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Rachel Bronson brings much-needed balance to an issue that has too often been the subject of unhelpful polemics, and she has proven herself to be a world-class researcher, unearthing numerous gems about that relationship. Her book is a vital reminder of the value of our long-time allies at a time when we have developed a bad habit of taking them for granted."--Kenneth Pollock, Director of Research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and author of The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America
"Smart, balanced, and wonderfully readable, Thicker Than Oil is the perfect antidote to the sensationalism that has recently characterized books and movies about U.S.-Saudi relations. With an eye for the telling detail, Rachel Bronson brings down the temperature of the debate and tells the fascinating story of how the Saudis and the Americans came to be blood brothers, brought together not simply by the black gold but by geography and a common interest in fighting godless Communism. This well-documented study should be required reading for policymakers, students, and indeed anyone interested in truly understanding this most crucial and tense relationship at the crossroads where it now stands."--Noah Feldman, Professor of Law at New York University, and author of After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy


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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195167430
• ISBN-13: 978-0195167436
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #271,321 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The non-oil connection, June 4, 2006

By	N. Tsafos (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Reducing bilateral relations between America and Saudi Arabia to oil alone is a mistake, argues Rachel Bronson, director of Middle East and Gulf Studies at the Council of Foreign Relations, in this provocative book. Contrasted with recent titles on US-Saudi relations, her target is not the malevolence of the House of Saud or the supposed infesting character of America's alliance with the sentry of the Muslim faith; instead, Ms. Bronson asks: how could two countries as different as America and Saudi Arabia forge such a close alliance for so long?

Two parts form the answer: the first is that the alliance has not been airtight, much less free from squabble. Over the years, America and Saudi Arabia have clashed repeatedly, not least over America's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ms. Bronson's thorough research elucidates the ups and downs of America's rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, clarifying times when America's leaders have wanted closer ties with the kingdom and others when distance was warranted. Dispelling the myth that America and Saudi Arabia have always been close, Ms. Bronson pulls together the different strands of the story and highlights the conditions under which the two states have been attracted to one another.

From the close examination of history comes the second part to the answer: that the alliance was always about more than oil. Anti-communism and real-estate were equally important factors that brought the two countries together. America's anti-Soviet agenda found an natural partner in a devout country that was awash with money; time and again, America would turn to Saudi Arabia to finance anti-communist struggles the world over. The Saudis often obliged, for their own anti-communist reasons. Saudi Arabia's attractive location also led policy makers as early as World War II to pronounce the fruits of partnership with the kingdom.

From this tripod--"oil, gold and real estate"--a strong alliance emerged, one that went awry after September 11. For many Americans, this is not an alliance worth saving; Ms. Bronson disagrees. By bringing to light the history of bilateral ties, she illuminates both why this alliance could prove conducive to American interests and how it can be made so today. A book worth reading, especially given the poor scholarship of many of its competitors.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and Insightful, April 24, 2006

By	J. Michael Adams - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Every so often a book comes along that sheds so much light and understanding on the events and people who shaped world events that the reader can honestly say; "Now I understand." Thicker Than Oil is one of those books.

Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, Iran-Contra, the rise of Muslim fundamentalism, the seeds of 9/11 sown at the end of World War II: each turns out to be the logical effect of a cause put into play over many years by presidents, kings, generals, entrepreneurs and ambassadors, all appropriately greased by oil, money and a mutual distaste for communism.

Rachel Bronson follows the trail, adds the insights, and uses the voices of the people who were actually there to document the U.S.-Saudi partnership over the last sixty years. It is the most clear and most compelling history available yet of the "uneasy" partnership.

Enjoyably readable, impeccably researched, interspersed with humor and understanding, Thicker Than Oil is everything you want a book to be. If only the future could be as clear as the author makes the past.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oil, yes, but so much more!, April 14, 2006

By	David Richards (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Covering eleven U.S. Presidents, from both parties, and six Saudi kings over a sixty-year time period, Rachel Bronson makes a convincing case that the two countries have more than oil in common, and that their shared strategic interests drove much of the policies of the second half of the twentieth century, from Africa to Central America, from Afghanistan to Iraq, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to September 11. The author is a skilled investigator who uncovers nuggets and facts and assembles them into a completed jigsaw puzzle that is clear and compelling. No small task here, where in the back rooms of Washington and Riyadh, secrecy is so revered. This book is a revelation.

I never read a book this detailed, this well researched, this non-partisan, and this encompassing that was so wonderfully readable. Non-fiction books can be page turners, as Thicker Than Oil proves.