ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with how elements of the domestic environment affect foreign policy. It focuses on foreign policy orientation, discusses Saudi Arabia's "Islamic theory of international relations," and examines whether the different components of Saudi Arabia's world view are consistent. The chapter utilizes several indicators to measure the tilt of Saudi international behavior toward the West. One of the contemporary popular stereotypes about Saudi Arabia is that it is a land of miracles. On the surface, important assets seem to define Saudi Arabia's status in the global system and give it a great deal of influence and freedom of maneuverability. Saudi Arabia's immediate geopolitical situation adds to this feeling of vulnerability. It is terribly close to Iran and shares borders with Iraq. The dominant historiographical trend accounting for the rise of the Saudi state is highly personalized and romanticized. Saudi Arabia is modeled on the original Islamic state of the seventh century.
