THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE U.S.–SAUDI RELATIONS (1931–1940)

Abstract

This research intends to cover the process of establishment of the U.S.–Saudi relations, and the factors it was influenced by. It is based on the study of the U.S. foreign policy documents. The research has revealed that the United States recognized the government of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (February 1931) after an agreement was reached to elevate its diplomatic representation in Iraq to the ambassadorial level. That means that the U.S. prioritized relations with the Kingdom of Iraq to relations with the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd. The United States recognized the government of the King Ibn Saud due to commercial interests. Hereafter the Department of State initiated the U.S.–Saudi Provisional Agreement in regard to Diplomatic and Consular Representation, Juridical Protection, Commerce and Navigation, signed in November 1933. It was aimed at protecting the rights of the U.S. citizens, who worked in the Kingdom since 1931, especially after obtaining the oil concession by the California Standard Oil company in May 1933. However, the diplomatic representative to Saudi Arabia was not appointed. This issue was mainstreamed when commercial volumes of oil were discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938, the U.S. oil company signed its second concession agreement in 1939, and the U. S. commercial interests in Saudi Arabia had significantly increased. Besides, the representatives of Great Britain, Germany and Japan intensified their activities to obtain oil concessions in Saudi Arabia. The King Ibn Saud highly appreciated exclusively commercial U.S. interests, the absence of its intentions to expand political influence or to take over Saudi territories. For these reasons, he preferred cooperation with the United States to other nations. The U.S.–Saudi diplomatic relations were established on February 4, 1940, when B. Fish, who was the U. S. Minister–resident in Egypt, presented his credentials to the King Ibn Saud. The decision to establish diplomatic representation in Saudi Arabia was taken in June–July 1939. It was caused by the increasing competition for Saudi oil, not a beginning of the World War, as some scholars suggest.