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> Sure, but oil wasn't found in Saudi Arabia until 1936 just in time for WW2 to wipe out the British Empire. This was well after the San Remo agreement. The ef
by chungus_khan 7y ago
> Sure, but oil wasn't found in Saudi Arabia until 1936 just in time for WW2 to wipe out the British Empire. This was well after the San Remo agreement.
The effects of the agreement didn't magically go away just because the British empire was failing 16 years later though.
Being after the time people perceive as the colonial period isn't really relevant either, the arrangement is distinctly neocolonial rather than colonial and absolutely built the current strength of the Saudi regime. Of course that isn't to ascribe any unique evil to any of the players, the arrangement was very profitable for the Sauds and the Americans, and pursuit of profit, not geopolitical foresight is what drives any arrangement like this.
- wbl 7y agoThe arrangement where they sell goods on the open market and we buy them?
- chungus_khan 7y agoNot goods at all, nor really an open market. Permission to drill was granted to American companies in exchange for a share of the profits to the royal family, and from that point forward the American government began to defend the interests of its corporations geopolitically. Very normal sort of arrangement, but absolutely responsible for the power and strength of the Saudi regime today.
- wbl 7y agoSaudi Aramco is owned by the Saudi government. The Saudis have repeatedly been a pain in the ass to the US including the embargo, long before Prince Bonesaw and the savage murder he orchestrated.
- chungus_khan 7y agoAramco was an American company though. The modern Saudi Aramco was founded in 88, and the underlying assets weren't actually Saudi-owned at all until the 70s.