Russian 6 After suffering comprehensive sanctions from the West, the global output of oil, natural gas and other energy sources have been greatly reduced. Europe and the United States have experienced a crisis of rising oil and gas prices and inflation , so they rely more on Middle East 's oil and gas resources to alleviate energy shortages.
However, in October 2022, , represented by , Saudi Arabia , the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC , OPEC ) and , Russia and other countries, announced that the average daily crude oil output will be reduced by 2 million barrels from November.
▲ Saudi 's oil reserves are the second largest in the world
US President and Saudi Crown Prince communicated, hoping that Saudi Arabia's oil production would increase. And the president of Russia hopes that Saudi Arabia will join forces with Russia to reduce oil production. This move went against the expectations of the United States and caused strong dissatisfaction from the United States. What makes the United States feel like a thorn is that the United States has announced production cuts this time include not only the "enemy" of the United States such as Russia , Venezuela , and the United States traditional allies . The United States believes that Saudi Arabia is on Russia's side this time.
▲Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Member
In fact, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been allies for more than 70 years.
But in most people's impression, the objects of the United States' alliance after World War II are mostly based on similar values - democracy, freedom and secularization.
Countries that are contrary to American values will even be labeled as "rogue state". For example, after 1979, the country that was united in politics and religion, implemented a strict policy on women wearing hijabs.
But Saudi Arabia is one of the few exceptions. Saudi Arabia is an autocratic country in and enforces strict canonalects. In Saudi Arabia, women must wear headscarves when going out, and women have been unable to drive vehicles for a long time and travel abroad has been restricted.
This is seriously contrary to the United States' values such as "secularization" and human rights.
▲After the production cut decision, the United States said that "it will re-evaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia"
Why can Saudi Arabia and the United States become ally in the face of serious conflicts in values?
1 1. Saudi monarchy
Saudi Arabia is the country with the largest area of Arabian Peninsula, accounting for about 70% of the peninsula area. And Arab Peninsula is the birthplace of Arab Empire and Islam .
However, Saudi is a relatively young country, and Saudi Arabia was not basically established until the 1920s.
▲Arab Peninsula
In the 7th century AD, the western part of the Arabian Peninsula Mumah ( Hashem family ) established the unity of politics and religion Arab Empire . Since then, the Arab Empire has continued to expand.
From the 7th to the 13th century AD, the entire Arab Peninsula was the land of the Arab Empire. Arabs This huge nation is a product of the Arab Empire.
▲The full territory of the Arab Empire
3th century, Arab Empire was destroyed by Mongol Empire .In the following hundreds of years, Arab nations has never been unified again, but is mainly based on the management of families and tribes.
6th century, Arab nation was occupied by another Islamic empire - Ottoman Empire . The Ottoman Empire is a multi-ethnic Islamic country, among which Arabs the largest ethnic group.
In order to stabilize the Muslims in the territory, the Ottoman Empire handed over the holy cities Mecca and Medina to descendants of Muhammad— Hashem family , that is, Hanzhi region .
▲Hanzhi area
The central region of the peninsula is widely distributed and is a barren land, far away from the holy city Mecca and Medina, that is, Neizhi region . Not within the jurisdiction of Ottoman Empire .
Neizhi area is mainly dominated by pro- Ottoman Rashid family and anti-Ottoman Saudi family . The borders of each other are blurred.
▲The three major families on the Arabian Peninsula are three-legged and three-legged
Among them, Saudi family insists on establishing religion with the " Quran " and the Hadith, restoring the prophet Mohammed orthodox belief in the period of the orthodox belief.
▲Ottoman Empire and Neizhi
During the battle of , Ottoman Empire stood in the camp of the Allies led by German html, fighting against British French Enterprise camp.
In order to completely eliminate the influence of Ottoman Empire in the Arabian Peninsula, Britain and France agreed to the requirement of Hashem family to reunify the Arab region. But Saudi family became the master of the Uchiji region.
▲English and France secretly divided
After the First World War, the Ottoman Empire disintegrated and the Arab countries were reduced to the British and French commissioned ruling .
In the Arabian Peninsula, there was a situation where the descendants of the Prophets Hashem family Hanzhi (Mecca is the capital), and Saudi family Neizhi Kingdom ( Riyadh is the capital) coexist. Although Britain and France agreed to the Hashemian family's request to unify the Arabian Peninsula, Britain and France did not want the Arab region to be reunified.
For this reason, Britain, France and Russia reached "Sex-Pick Agreement" , secretly divided the Arab region, and established Jordan , Syria , Iraq and other kingdoms dominated by the Hashem family .
Jordan, Syria and Iraq are the protectors of Britain and France.
▲After World War I, the country dominated by the Hashem family
After the October Revolution in Russia, the Soviet regime was established, which was hostile to Britain and France. The Soviet Union simply disclosed the content of the British-France Sex-Pick Agreement.
This secret divides Arab land zone angers Hashem family and Hanzhi Kingdom . The relationship between Britain and Hanzhi has moved from allies to hostility.
NeizhiWahabisms, who have always followed the fundamentals, are eager to occupy two holy cities - Mecca and Medina, and establish prestige in the Islamic world.
Britain is becoming hostile due to its relationship with Hanzhi. Therefore, Britain supported the Neizhi to fight against the Hanzhi.
▲Wahabie related paintings
924, with the support of the UK, Neizhi launched a war against Hanzhi . In 1925, Neizhi occupied the capital of Hanzhi Mecca , Hashem family exiled to Jordan, and the Kingdom of Neizhi changed the country name to "Neizhi-Hanzhi United Kingdom ". This country has become completely dominated by the Saudi family.
In 1932, King Ibn Saudi Arabia announced that it would change the country name to "Saudi Arabia" .
▲Saudi family unifies the Han Dynasty (green) and the inner cult, establishing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
In the 1930s, two major powers in the Islamic world - Turkey and Iran In order to realize the modernization of the country, it actively launched the "secularization" reform and established a secular regime in which separates church and state .
▲Iranian women in secularization
However, Saudi is an exception. The Saudi king not only monopolized all important military and political positions, but also established Islam as the state religion based on the Quran.
Saudi kings established themselves as the ruler of the country and the Imam of the Wahhabi faction (religious leader), and established a system of unity of politics and religion.
In terms of women's rights, Saudi Arabia has long restricted women's separate free activities (must be accompanied by a male guardian), and even unable to drive a car (it has been loosened in recent years).
2. Oil exchange security
Saudi Arabia is a country where politics and education are integrated , which is seriously inconsistent with the values of the United States. At that time, the Saudi economy mainly relied on oasis agriculture and lagged behind in development. Therefore, Saudi Arabia did not establish diplomatic relations with the United States in the early days.
The alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United States is inseparable from oil resources and Saudi Arabia's national security.
Many Muslims believe that Mecca and Medina should belong to the Hashem family, not the Saudi family, so the foundation of Saudi rule is not stable.
In addition, Saudi Arabia and Jordan ( control of the Hashem family ) have sovereignty disputes over the Asia-HTML Kaba Bay , and are always facing the danger of subversion of Jordan in Saudi Arabia, and have been supporting the Hashem family in .
▲Saudi Jordan dispute
Therefore, Saudi urgently needs an external alliance to protect national security. It happened that in 1931, the American oil giant - California Standard Oil Company discovered oil in Saudi Arabia.
▲ Standard Petroleum Company Stock
At this time, the United States is in the era of the development of Automatic industry , and the demand for oil is huge. In order to obtain oil resources, the United States formally established diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia in 1931.
However, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States was very fragile at that time. Because Saudi Arabia established a monarchical system that integrates politics and religion, Saudi Arabia does not even have a constitution, and the Qur’an The Qur’an stipulates all aspects of Saudi life.Moreover, political parties exist illegally in Saudi Arabia.
▲Religious gatherings in Mecca
Therefore, the United States did not set up an embassy in Saudi Arabia, but instead set up the embassy in Cairo, Egypt .
Subsequently, Saudi Arabia discovered a massive amount of oil resources in the east and became an important oil producer in the world. In 1933, the Saudi King Abdul Aziz In order to develop relations with the United States, he simply gave the United States California Standard Oil Company oil extraction rights.
World War II further deepened the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Oil has become an important strategic resource for belligerent countries. In 1941, the United States became a participating country in World War II. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf of Mexico have rich oil resources, making the United States one of the few countries in war without oil shortage.
In 1945, the US President Roosevelt met with the king on the Murphy, officially consolidating the friendship between the two countries.
▲In 1945, the Saudi king met with the US President
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union gradually moved towards confrontation due to the conflict between ideological . The Middle East has become a stage for the United States and the Soviet Union to compete with each other. The United States has tried hard to curb Soviet expansion in the Middle East.
▲Middle East Petroleum Distribution Map
In 1951, the United States and Saudi Arabia signed the "Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement" . Although the values are seriously inconsistent, the alliance between the two sides was officially established. The United States provides arms sales and security protection to Saudi Arabia.
After World War II, the United States established NATO . Unlike NATO , the military alliances of the United States and Western European countries are based on ideology and values. The United States and Saudi Arabia have huge ideological differences.
3. Security needs, rebuild
In order to curb Soviet expansion in the Middle East, the United States supported Jewish to establish a Jewish state- Israeli (the Soviet Union supported Palestinian ) and Persian countries- Iran (it was occupied by the Soviet Union during World War II).
Jews (Israel), Persians (Iran) have had a long grudge against Saudi-led Arab nation . Especially Jews and Arabs are constantly quarreling on the issue of Palestinian Territory division, water sources and Jerusalem .
By the 1970s, Israel and Arab countries broke out four times Middle East War .
▲Middle East War
In order to establish influence in the Arab and Islamic worlds, Saudi Arabia fully supports the establishment of its own country with the Palestinian nation.
In addition, American oil company has always monopolized important links such as Saudi oil extraction and sales. Saudi royal profits from oil only one percent. There are cracks in relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
With the National Liberation Movement swept the world, Saudi Arabia and other oil countries established the " Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)", and members can control their own oil production.
▲OPEC Group
The Fourth Middle East War After Saudi Arabia was dissatisfied with the United States' partiality with Israel , and publicly confronted it, imposing an oil embargo on the United States, causing the relationship between the two countries to fall into a trough.
All of this changed in the late 1970s. In 1979, Iran broke out in Islamic revolution , and established Islamic Republic of Iran . Iran is a Shiite country and has sectarian conflicts with the Wahhabi sect pursued by Saudi Arabia.
Persian and Arab have been a long-standing grudge in history. Iran continues to export Shiite revolutions to Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, threatening Saudi Arabia's national security.
▲Iran Islamic Revolution
After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, Iran firmly embarked on an anti-American line, from an ally of the United States to an enemy of the United States. The alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia has been strengthened.
But Saudi As the largest and most populous Arabian Peninsula country, it also hopes to establish its own authority in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
Saudi Arabia secretly supports al-Qaeda and bin Laden launched the 9·11 incident . There was a shadow of Saudi Arabia in the 9·11 incident, which caused a crack in the US-Saudi relations. In 2003, the United States withdrew most of its troops from Saudi Arabia.
▲Of the 19 terrorists in the United States on September 11, 15 were Saudi citizens
After 2010, there were many " color revolution " in the Arab world. For example, Yemen broke out in anti-Saudi and anti-US Houthi uprising . In Syria, an uprising against the Assad family (backed by Iran) broke out.
In the face of the common enemy, Saudi Arabia and the United States intervened in the internal affairs of Yemen and Syria.
2010 and 2017, Obama and Trump During the administration of the president, the United States and Saudi Arabia signed arms sales agreements worth $60 billion and $100 billion.
▲In 2017, then-US President Trump met with the Saudi King
Although there are serious differences in ideology and values . But in order to penetrate Middle East , the United States must put aside any impulses out of ideology and values. Because this will not produce any results that will benefit the United States.
Saudi Arabia repeatedly tried to seize the leadership of Arab world, Islamic world, and oil exporting countries , which is also contrary to the United States' ideas.
However, because the two countries have common interests, such as relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia's dependence on US arms sales. Therefore, in the face of overall interests, although Saudi Arabia and the United States have fluctuations, the overall alliance relationship will not be too loose.
