Oil 1 Peak Oil 21
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- ECONOMIC TIES KEY TO RELATIONS
- IMPACT U- CHINA NUKE SALES
- IMPACT- NUCLEAR WAR
- AT: WONT STRIKE ISRAEL
RELATIONS HIGH NOWRELATIONS HIGH NOW- US AND SAUDI ARABIA COLLABORATING ON WAR ON TERROR Alfred B. Prados, Congressional Research Service Updated August 4, 2003 “U.S.-Saudi Relations” http://www.policyalmanac.org/world/archive/saudi_arabia.shtml Saudi Arabia, a monarchy ruled by the Saudi dynasty, enjoys special importance in the international community because of its unique association with the Islamic religion and its oil wealth. Since the establishment of the modern Saudi kingdom in 1932, it has benefited from a stable political system based on a smooth process of succession to the throne and an increasingly prosperous economy dominated by the oil sector. Decrees by King Fahd in March 1992 establishing an appointive consultative council and provincial councils and promulgating a basic law providing for certain citizens’ rights could signal a gradual trend toward a more open political system. The United States and Saudi Arabia have long-standing economic and defense ties. A series of informal agreements, statements by successive U.S. administrations, and military deployments have demonstrated a strong U.S. security commitment to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was a key member of the allied coalition that expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991. Saudi Arabia hosted U.S. aircraft enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq; between the two Iraq wars of 1991 and 2003; however, Saudi Arabia did not offer the use of its territory for major air strikes against Iraq in response to Iraqi obstruction of U.N. weapons inspections. Moreover, Saudi officials ex-pressed opposition to the U.S.-led military campaign launched against Iraq in March-April 2003, although theyreportedly permitted certain support operations by U.S. and British military forces, as well in addition to making some facilities available to them. Bombing attacks against several U.S. operated installations in Saudi Arabia have raised some concerns about security of U.S. personnel and further security measures have been implemented. Saudi Arabia convicted and executed four Saudi nationals for carrying out a bombing in 1995. After extended investigations, on June 21, 2001, a U.S. federal grand jury indicted 14 members of Middle East terrorist organizations for a bombing in 1996, but none of them is in U.S. custody. A third bombing occurred on May 12, 2003, when suicide bombers attacked three housing compounds inhabited by U.S. and other western personnel, killing an estimated 34 people including as many as eight U.S. citizens. U.S. officials have cited Saudi support in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, including intelligence sharing, law enforcement activities, and tracking of terror-ist financing. Some commentators maintain that Saudi domestic and foreign policies have created a climate that may have contributed to terrorist acts by Islamic radicals. Saudi officials reject this viewpoint and maintain that they are working with the United States to combat terrorism. Other principal issues of bilateral interest include the Saudi position on the Arab-Israeli conflict, security in the post-war Gulf region, arms transfers to Saudi Arabia, Saudi external aid programs, bilateral trade relationships, and Saudi policies involving human rights and democracy. In early 2002, Crown Prince Abdullah proposed a peace initiative based on Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories in return for normal relations between Arab states and Israel. ECONOMIC TIES KEY TO RELATIONSRELATIONS WILL ONLY REMAIN STRONG WITH CONTINUED ECONOMIC TIES Rachel Bronson, Vice President, Programs and Studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Sunday, May 21, 2006 “5 Myths About U.S.-Saudi Relations” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901758_2.html The 9/11 hijackers undermined otherwise strong U.S.- Saudi ties. Actually, things were never that smooth. Historians refer to the "special relationship" established when Saudi Arabia's King Abdel Aziz and President Franklin D. Roosevelt met in 1945. But since then the relationship has endured oil embargoes, U.S. restrictions on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and tensions around Israel and Palestine. Dissension permeates the entire history of U.S.-Saudi relations. Since the end of the Cold War, relations have become particularly fraught, with the 9/11 attacks being the most recent issue. Oil, defense and some regional interests keep the countries together, but both sides have made clear that the relationship is less special today. In 2005, Rice stated that "for 60 years . . . the United States pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East -- and we achieved neither." Meanwhile, members of the Saudi royal family are debating the utility of close ties with the Americans.
Rachel Bronson, Vice President, Programs and Studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Sunday, May 21, 2006 “5 Myths About U.S.-Saudi Relations” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901758_2.html It's more complex than that. Growing oil demand from China, India and the developing world means that others are pursuing closer ties with the kingdom. Chinese President Hu Jintao flew from Washington to Riyadh in April, despite Bush administration protests that China was "locking up long-term oil deals" with oil-rich countries. Last year, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, stated that Saudi Arabia and China now have a "strategic relationship," because Saudi Arabia is the largest supplier of crude to China. Of course, Beijing will not replace Washington as the Saudis' key global partner. But growing oil demand elsewhere radically alters the options at Saudi Arabia's disposal. IMPACT U- CHINA NUKE SALESNO SQUO RISK OF CHINESE NUCLEAR SALES Thomas W. Lippman , member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Middle East correspondent and a diplomatic and national security reporter for The Washington Post, 2/9/08 “Nuclear Weapons and Saudi Strategy” http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/articles/2008/ioi/080209-lippman-nuclear.html Either way, covert or overt, acquiring nuclear warheads and installing them on modernized, retrofitted CSS 2 missiles capable of delivering them would require Chinese cooperation, which is unlikely to be forthcoming. Once a problem proliferator and the probable source of technology and material for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, China now has a higher interest in maintaining the nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States that went into effect in 1998, making possible US commercial sales to China’s civilian nuclear power program IMPACT- NUCLEAR WARNUCLEAR SAUDI ARABIA GUARANTEES APOCALYPTIC CONFRONTATION WITH ISRAEL YAAKOV KATZ, staff writer for Jerusalem Post 11/8/07 Lieberman: ME atomic programs 'apocalyptic' http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380772105&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Egyptian and Saudi Arabian intentions to begin or revive their nuclear programs in the face of Iran's continued race toward nuclear power present an "apocalyptic scenario" for Israel as well as for the rest of the world, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Lieberman's remarks came a week after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced a decision to restart his country's nuclear program. On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country had begun operating 3,000 centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. "If Egypt and Saudi Arabia begin nuclear programs, this can bring an apocalyptic scenario upon us," Lieberman told the Post. "Their intentions should be taken seriously and the declarations being made now are to prepare the world for when they decide to actually do it." Lieberman also said Pakistan was a major threat to Israel due to the political instability there and the fact that the country had "missiles, nuclear weapons and a proven capability."
Nora Bensahel and Daniel L. Byman, Rand Corporation, 2004 “The Future Security Environment in the Middle East Conflict, Stability, and Political Change” http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1640/MR1640.pdf Saudi Arabia is implicitly threatened by Iranian WMD as well as Israeli arsenals. Under conditions of conflict in the Gulf, or between Israel and its neighbors, Saudi Arabia might be tempted to invest in more modern missiles and, in the most extreme case, nuclear weapons. This scenario could be made more likely should Iran “go nuclear,” if a new Middle East conflict saw the extensive use of WMD, or if the United States disengaged from Gulf defense. The durability of the Saudi regime is another important variable. The advent of a more radical (revolutionary rather than status quo) regime could spur Saudi acquisition of WMD. The presence of American forces in and around the Gulf raises the cost of conventional aggression for Iran and probably stimulates the search for asymmetric alternatives, from subversion to possession of WMD. A reduction in the American commitment to Gulf defense, the transformation of American relations with Iran, or a long-term occupation of Iraq could all affect proliferation trends. But regional competitions are likely to remain and provide their own rationale for the development of WMD capabilities at some level AT: WONT STRIKE ISRAELSAUDI ARABIA ON THE BRINK OF STRIKING ISRAEL, THEY JUST NEED BETTER WEAPONS All-encompassingly.com, 03/15/07 “Saudi Arabia- does it support America’s interests in the area?” http://www.all-encompassingly.com/saudi-arabia-does-it-support-americas-interests-in-the-area/ The Saudis have participated in every one of the Arab wars against Israel, since Israel’s founding in 1948. They are totally committed to continued warfare until what they hope will be the destruction of Israel and “recovery” of Jerusalem. Saudi Arabia has systematically thwarted any peace initiatives to resolve the Arab-Israel conflict, continues to maintain a state of war with Israel, refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and perpetuates, through the Arab League boycott, an international economic warfare intended to strangle Israel. The Saudis clamor constantly for more and more sophisticated weapons from the U.S. They claim to need these weapons in order to protect their kingdom, their oil installations, and the Gulf shipping lanes from the Iranians. They have purchased $2.9 billion of war materials from the U.S. and vast additional quantities from Western Europe. But now that this arsenal is available and could be engaged, do they use it? Of course not! They call on the U.S. for help. Because of their unwillingness to assist in their own defense during the Gulf war, we had to put over thirty war ships and much other material in the area and thousands of U.S. sailors, whose lives were at risk and quite a few of whom were lost. Why, then, if they refuse to defend their own country, do the Saudis need all this expensive and deadly hardware? To quote the Saudi defense minister: “It is focused on Israel.” And he was echoing King Khaled, who said, “When we build our military power, we have no designs on anybody except those who took away our land and holy places in Jerusalem, and we know who they are!” The way things seem to be planned by the Saudis, it may not be too long before their F-15’s will join to fight Israel’s F-15’s in another devastating Middle East conflagration. Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 9.54 Mb. Share with your friends:
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