Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains that The Iranian Revolution, which started exporting its spiritual and ideological principles, threatened the Arab Gulf monarchies, including Saudi Arabia. The presence of the former Soviet Union in the vicinity of the oil-rich Gulf, on which the US and the European countries were heavily dependent, was seen as a potential threat to their vital interest. In his State of the Union address on 23 January 1980, President Jimmy Carter warned that the US would use all means, including military, to protect its vital national interest if any external power attempted to intervene in the region. The security of the kingdom has been a paramount concern of Al Saud. Since the time of Ibn Saud, Saudi Arabia has been in quest of securing its national boundaries from external interventions, both regional and extra-regional.