| Summary: | Saudi Arabia is an Arab-Islamic State. It is a part of the Arabian Peninsula as well as of the larger Arab World. It is the birth place of Islam and holds within its territory the two holiest cities of Islam - Mecca and Medina. Internationally, the country possesses one-fourth of the world's proven oil reserves, the third largest oil producer, and the first exporter of oil in the world. Undoubtedly, its importance to the Arabs, Islam, and the world is eminent. The primary purpose of this thesis is to examine, through a descriptive and analytical approach, Saudi Arabian foreign policy behaviour between 1945 and 1984. The study tries to describe and explain the general objectives, policies, and attitudes of Saudi Arabia toward the outside world. It tries to explore the general directions and patterns of Saudi Arabian foreign policy. The thesis is divided into six major chapters. The first is a general background about the country. It deals with the land and its people, the economy and the defensive capability. It also discusses the government structure and the foreign policy objectives. The second chapter is on the literature survey. It deals with the literature review and the organization of the study. Chapter three is on oil. It discusses the oil concessions of the 1930s, and the developments in the international oil market from 1945 up to 1984. The fourth chapter deals with Saudi Arabia's relations with the Arab world, the fifth is on Saudi Arabia's relations with the Islamic world. The sixth chapter discusses the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the two superpowers. It deals with Saudi Arabia's relations with the Soviet Union and the United States. The final chapter is a conclusion.
|
|---|
