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| Volume XII, Fall 2005, Number 3 |
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ABSTRACT
Saudi Arabia in the 21st Century: A New Security Dilemma |
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| James Russell |
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Mr. Russell is a senior lecturer in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School. The views in this article are his own and do not reflect the views or positions of the Naval Postgraduate School, Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.
While the international community is rightfully transfixed on the prospect of nuclear-armed Iran, another regional concern is beginning to appear on the radar screens of many interested observers. Periodic reporting over 2003 and 2004 suggests that Saudi Arabia is also seriously considering the acquisition of nuclear weapons as part of a general re-examination of the assumptions that have driven the Kingdom’s quest for security over the last 50 years. While the prospect of a nuclear-armed Saudi Arabia has been dismissed by many observers and, if realized, would represent a profoundly unwelcome development for regional security, the fact that the Saudis appear interested in a systematic look at the Kingdom’s security strategy is in many ways a healthy and welcome development. The Kingdom’s review of these issues reflects the obvious fact that the regional security environment has undergone fundamental changes in the last three years. While the Persian Gulf and wider Middle East has always been noted by strategists for its chronic instability, events over the last several years have made what is a bad situation worse. The discombobulated regional environment has combined with a changed internal political environment that is being shaped by the Saudi regime's battles with an extremist militant infrastructure. These factors have created a new security dilemma for the Kingdom. The United States and the international community must carefully dissect Saudi Arabia's emerging security dilemma and develop policies that can mitigate the world's largest oil producer's growing sense of insecurity.
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