From Arab Nationalism to OPEC: Eisenhower, King Sa’ud, and the Making of U.S.-Saudi Relations

As OPEC approaches its 50th anniversary, the paperback edition of Nathan J. Citino’s well-received study advances a challenging, revisionist interpretation of U.S.-Saudi relations and OPEC’s historical significance. Citino re-examines the relationship between President Eisenhower and King Sa’ d in the context of the transition from British imperial hegemony to an American capitalist order in the Middle East. He shows how the political realignment that resulted in OPEC ensured that wealth and power subsequently remained in the hands of oil-producing governments. Using American and British archives, corporate records, and Arabic sources, this work reinterprets the foundations of U.S. Middle East policy, the modern Saudi state, and the global politics of oil.