Responses: Low Internal Validation/Balancing, and External Balancing

The policy of appeasement changed drastically in light of the Yemeni coup and Egyptian military intervention on the side of the republicans against the royalists. Having failed to keep Nasser’s threat at bay, Faisal abandoned appeasement and instead devised a defense policy based on a combination of internal validation, internal balancing, and external balancing. The additional income from oil revenue allowed Faisal to improve internal balancing and to some extent engage in internal validation.228 At home, Faisal sought to boost support for his regime with the ten-point program. The program stipulated legal and social reform and economic development. As noted above in the section of internal validation, the government expanded social welfare services and public employment. Internal balancing efforts rested primarily on increasing financial spending on military and security apparatuses. Although spending on the military went up, it was the internal security agencies which consumed the largest share of the budget, reflecting Faisal’s anxiety about internal subversion. In the 1962-1967 period budget allocation to the Ministry of Interior climbed from 183 million SR to 3859 million SR, and to the National Guard increased from 61 million SR to 202 million SR. In total spending on internal

227

Safran, Saudi Arabia: the Ceaseless Quest for Security, 94. 228

The extra cash was due to higher exports, but also as a consequence of an agreement between OPEC and the oil companies: Saudi Arabia signed this agreement in 1964, gradually increasing the allowance of the oil-producing countries starting in January 1964 with an extra 3.5 cents a barrel.

security apparatuses multiplied from 260 million SR in 1962 to 4202 million SR in 1967 (see table 15). By 1967 internal security assumed 70 percent of total military spending229 On the international front, the Saudi regime sought to enhance security through external balancing. Its balancing strategy proceeded in various directions and with different partners. First, the Saudi regime balanced with royalists against the republicans. It was a delicate balancing act which aimed to frustrate Nasser’s adventure in Yemen, but not provoke him to take the war into the kingdom. Thus, the royalists received from Saudi Arabia financial aid and arms, but Saudi armed forces did not participate in the fighting. Second, to counter Nasser’s socialism and pan-Arabism, Faisal promoted an alignment based on Islamic ideology. To develop an alliance among Muslim states, Faisal invited Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries to join an international forum called the Islamic Conference. His efforts, however, did not materialize until 1969, at an Islamic summit in Rabat which established the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). By then the threat of Nasser had vanished after the crushing defeat of the 1967 Six-Day War.

Third, Faisal sought British and American support for resisting Egyptian armed forces.230 The response of the United States government was ambiguous. On the one hand, President Kennedy gave Faisal assurances regarding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the kingdom; on the other hand, the Kennedy Administration officially recognized the new Republican regime of North Yemen against the wishes of Saudi Arabia.231 In spite of American oil interest in the kingdom, Faisal was unable to persuade Kennedy to withdraw his support of Nasser. Rather than confronting Egypt, the United States resorted to a relationship of cooperation based on economic aid as guarantees for safeguarding American interest in the region.232 Having failed to win unequivocal American support, Faisal turned to the British, who were far more sensitive to Saudi Arabia’s security needs. 233 The British were forthcoming with supplying arms and training to Saudi Arabia, and providing supplies to the royalists in North Yemen.234

229

In addition to internal validation and internal balancing, Faisal took the additional step of weakening the influence of pan-Arabism among the senior members of the ruling class by dismissing liberal princes and progressive commoners from the Council of Ministers. A group of loyal princes were appointed, including Prince Khaled as Deputy as Prime Minister, Prince Fahd as Minister of the Interior, and Prince Sultan as Minister of Defense.

230

Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Britain in 1956. Relationship between the two countries resumed in 1963.

231

For more information on Egyptian-Saudi conflict and the Kennedy Administration, see Fawaz A. Gerges, “The Kennedy Administration and the Egyptian-Saud Conflict in Yemen: Co-opting Arab Nationalism,” Middle East Journal 49 (Spring 1995): 292-311.

232

With the arrival of President Johnson in November 1964, US-Egyptian relations began to deteriorate. Unlike Kennedy, President Johnson was more responsive to Faisal’s requests in the region aimed at subduing Nasser, for several reasons. Johnson did not approve of Nasser’s nationalism, nor his rising prestige and influence in the region. Moreover, Johnson believed Arab nationalism had been exploited by the Soviet Union to weaken the interest of the West in the Middle East. See William B. Quandt, Decade of Decisions (California: California University Press, 1977), 38.

233

There were several reasons behind Britain’s cooperation with Saudi Arabia. First, the republican regime in North Yemen posed a direct threat to the British position in Aden and South Yemen. Second, Britain and Nasser’s Egypt were on bad terms since the Suez Crisis, which elevated the status of Nasser and humiliated