INTERESTS ABOVE ALL: THE STRATEGIC DETERMINANTS OF SAUDI ARABIA’S ALLIANCES

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to reconceptualize alliance theory to account for the influential, if not determinantal, role of a middle power’s national interests in forming and managing its alliances. Existing literature on alliance theory mostly dismisses the agency of a non-superpower in alliance formation and generally explains its alignment as a function of systemic security considerations. This doctoral thesis addresses such a gap by proposing a theory that explains Saudi Arabia’s alliance choices across time and with various countries. It shows to what extent Saudi national interests form and sustain those alliances by introducing the concept of the convergence of interests. It does so to better understand how Saudi Arabia, as one of the most influential middle powers, projects and exercises its power and influence through alliances. By applying a mixed-methods approach, relying mostly on primary sources, and using three case studies of Saudi alliances, the empirical findings show that Saudi Arabia’s national interests explain its alliances both in general and with the U.S., Iran, and China in particular. They also explain the nature of those alliances, which is defined by changes in specific intra-alliance dynamics— the determinants of alliance management. Those changes, in turn, determine the durability of the alliances. The significance of this study is that it offers a theoretically and practically useful framework to understand how a middle power behaves in the world via alliances and the impact of which behavior on regional and global dynamics and power concentrations.