This book examines the development and significance of U.S.-Saudi Arabia ties, examining the major factors affecting their association-economic, commercial, military, and political as well as oil-related factors.

David E. Longis serving on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff. He prepared this book while a senior fellow at the Middle East Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Persian Gulf: An Introduction to Its Peoples, Politics, and Economics (Westview, revised edition 1978), and coeditor of The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa (Westview, 1980).

Also of Interest -- Preface -- Introduction: Constant Interests Among Changing Perceptions -- U.S.-Saudi Oil Relations -- U.S.-Saudi Military Relations -- U.S.-Saudi Economic and Commercial Relations -- U.S.-Saudi Political Relations -- Ambivalent Allies