Degree Year
2017
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
Advisor(s)
Zeinab Abul-Magd
Committee Member(s)
Renee Christine Roman, Chair
Keywords
Oil Embargo, 1973, United States, Saudi Arabia, Oil, Arms, Petrodollars, Cold War, Imperialism
Abstract
This thesis examines the impact of the 1973 oil embargo on US-Saudi relations. It asks how and why the US and Saudi Arabia remained long-term allies after a five-month period of economic warfare. Most prior research focuses on the factors that influenced the embargo's implementation, failing to fully explain its resolution. This thesis explores the latter issue by appealing to US government memos, OAPEC meeting transcripts, and US-Saudi telegrams. It argues that, after five months of rhetorical and material distance, the US and KSA realigned over symbiotic trade dynamics-- “arms for oil"--and mutual opposition to communism. This subject remains important today insofar as it contextualizes an ongoing relationship with one of the United States’ most important allies in the Middle East, the region's largest oil exporter and arms importer.
Repository Citation
Sher, Nathaniel David, "The 1973 Oil Embargo and US-Saudi Relations: An Episode in New Imperialism" (2017). Honors Papers. 192.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors/192
