History
The first Americans to travel to Saudi Arabia were Christian missionary doctors. Though they failed to win any converts to Christianity among the Bedouins, they did win the good will of Ibn Saud, saving his life from a mysterious illness which greatly swelled his right eye and face. Following that life saving treatment, the House of Saud gave preference to American delegations over others. Another early American in Saudi Arabi was Charles Richard Crane, heir to a large Chicago plumbing fortune. Mr. Crane expended a large portion of his estate building waterworks in the Arabian desert, which activity first alerted Westerners, and the
Bedouins, to the possibility of large oil reserves being present in the region, which was confirmed by early oil exploration projects financed in part by Mr. Crane. Before the discovery of oil, the official American policy toward Saudi Arabia was handled by few US individuals due to the Saudi’s small interest toward the US (Grayson, 1982). During the discovery of large capacities of oil in Saudi Arabia, America’s foreign interest was simultaneously drifting toward Saudi Arabia. America’s continuous demand on oil and the Saudis need of a balanced economy had greatly resulted in a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia, which could be the strongest they both encountered (Wafa, 2005). A major obstacle between the two ties was World War II with the US’s large involvement in the war, which resulted in great negative impact toward the establishment of a strong complete relationship with Saudi Arabia. Also, the US support to the establishment of an Israeli state in the Middle East resulted in an arguing conflict between the ties and it was the relations first conflict but it was later resolved.
Read more about this topic: Saudi Arabia–United States Relations
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