U.S. security cooperation in the Middle East: The cases of Israel and Saudi Arabia, 2003-2023

Date

2025-8

Author

Shakirova, Anna

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This thesis examines the security cooperation aspect of the United States (U.S.) alliances with Israel and Saudi Arabia. This work defines security cooperation between states in terms of three major elements: arms transfers, joint military exercises, and political and strategic support in times of crisis. By doing so, this thesis aims to demonstrate how security cooperation between the U.S. and its key regional allies has been shaped in light of their growing shared threat perception of Iran in 2003-2023. In this context, an evolution of Iran’s perception as a threat to regional order by both the U.S. and its allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, is discussed. Moreover, a historical background of the U.S.-Israel and U.S.-Saudi Arabia alliances is provided. This is followed by a discussion on the bilateral security cooperation of the United States with Israel and Saudi Arabia in 2003-2023. Having delved into the peculiarities of the U.S. alliances with Israel and Saudi Arabia, this thesis underlines the similarities, differences, and potential limitations of both relationships. Building upon Stephen Walt’s balance of threat theory, this thesis argues that the U.S. security cooperation with Israel and Saudi Arabia revolves around countering recurring shared security threats. It further argues that, in 2003-2023, the shared threat perception of Iran enabled Washington to strike a strategic consensus between its allies with contrasting views, i.e., Israel and Gulf states, for the first time.

Subject Keywords

The United States, Israil, Saudi Arabia, Secuirty cooperation, Balance of threat

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115433

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis