The U.S.–Saudi relationship
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The U.S.,Saudi relationship is described by John Kiriakou as the keystone of American foreign policy in the Middle East, a judgement he offers "for better or for worse" rather than as praise.

What each side gets

The American interest he names first is basing. It is always useful to have friends in the region, he says, especially when you find yourself in a time of war and suddenly need air bases or naval bases.

Beyond that he describes the arrangement as unusually uncomplicated: "we buy their oil and they buy our military hardware. It's really that simple." Outside that exchange, he says, the two governments generally agree on very little in terms of policy.

What it commits the United States to

Against the basing rights he sets the character of the client. The United States has committed itself for well more than half a century to defending what he calls an extreme right-wing government with no respect for human rights, no respect for women's rights, and no respect for religious freedoms.

The commitment, in his account, is to the regime's survival rather than to any shared position, and it is honoured at the expense of the stated principles of American policy: "we have proven time and again that we will walk away from our own commitments to international law and to human rights in order to defend and protect that regime."

See also

- The Saudi fear of an election
- Saudi aid priorities
- Saudi Arabia And Radicalism
- Saudi princes and 9/11
- Composition of the Saudi military
