Introduction:

Saudi Arabia has been under a lot of pressure since the terrorists’ attacks of September 11th. In fact, the kingdom’s foreign policy is being constantly challenged by events like the war on terrorism, Afghanistan, Middle East conflict and the war on Iraq. The international interest in Saudi Arabia made the ruling family change its restraint in its foreign policy and have a more active position regarding regional issues. Its main priority remains to guarantee the stability in the region and to maintain a status quo in order to avoid any negative impact on domestic affairs. For this last reason, and in order to ensure the regime stability along with the safety of petrol exports, Saudi Arabia developed close ties with the United States. This “strategic alliance” and the introduction of American military bases in the kingdom gave voice to opposition movements inside and outside the country. However, and with the fall of Saddam’s regime in Iraq, the US is giving up military bases in Saudi Arabia that are no longer strategically necessary, which puts the Saudi/US relations in a transitional phase. Iran constitutes another major point in the Saudi foreign policy. After the rise of Khomeini and its Islamic republic, both countries engaged in hostile actions towards each other. For the kingdom, it is an imminent threat to have a revolutionary government next door that calls for a revolution against the ruling families in all Muslim monarchies. Beside the Arab Israeli conflict, the Saudi foreign policy is centered on three major themes: regional security, Arab nationalism and Islam. This paper deals with all the three discourses alongside the Saudi relations with the US, which are considered to be a key element in their foreign policy.

Regional Security:

The primary foreign policy goal of Saudi Arabia is to maintain security and political stability in the Middle East region, especially the area that surrounds the Arabian Peninsula. And for