Date of Award

8-2003

Document Type

Campus Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Public Affairs/International Relations

First Advisor

Robert Weiner

Second Advisor

Primo Vannicelli

Third Advisor

Edmund Beard

Abstract

As a Saudi citizen studying in Boston from 2000-2003, the author received quite an education just being in the United States. With a theoretical framework based on Realism and National Interest, the author examined the impact of September 11th on relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The thesis briefly touches upon the history of Saudi Arabia and traces a chronology of key events in the history of those relations from the PBS series Frontline: Saudi Time Bomb?.

The thesis takes a look at the state of relations between the two nations just prior to September 11th and examines the possibility of an American "Grand Plan" for reshaping the Middle East.

The author raises such subjects as US attempts to colonize the minds of Middle Easterners, and the West's inability to come to grips with Saudi Arabia not only as the most important oil producer in the region, but as the idealistic Custodians of the two holy mosques of Islam. The author also takes issue with Western attacks against Islam, a religion of peace.

Among other sources, the author relies heavily on interviews of officials involved in Saudi-US relations. In the text the reader will find interviews of Prince Khaled bin Sultan, Deputy Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia; Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia; and Robert W. Jordan, American Ambassador to Saudi Arabia as well as other politicians, journalists and intellectuals in the Kingdom. These interviews shed light on the actual state of relations between the two countries free from hidden agendas and media bias.

The author concludes that despite the war in the media and the war of words in the general populations of the two nations, Saudi-US relations withstood the pressure and challenges that resulted from the terrorist attacks, the nations are cooperating in the war on terror, and relations between the two governments have proven to be strong and enduring.

Comments

Free and open access to this Campus Access Thesis is made available to the UMass Boston community by ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. Those not on campus and those without a UMass Boston campus username and password may gain access to this thesis through resources like Proquest Dissertations & Theses Global or through Interlibrary Loan. If you have a UMass Boston campus username and password and would like to download this work from off-campus, click on the "Off-Campus UMass Boston Users" link above.

Download
Off-Campus UMass Boston Users

Share

COinS