America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil FrontierStanford University Press, 2007 - 353 pages America s Kingdom debunks the many myths that now surround the United States s special relationship with Saudi Arabia, or what is less reverently known as "the deal": oil for security. Taking aim at the long-held belief that the Arabian American Oil Company, ARAMCO, made miracles happen in the desert, Robert Vitalis shows that nothing could be further from the truth. What is true is that oil led the U.S. government to follow the company to the kingdom. Eisenhower agreed to train Ibn Sa ud s army, Kennedy sent jets to defend the kingdom, and Lyndon Johnson sold it missiles. Oil and ARAMCO quickly became America s largest single overseas private enterprise. Beginning with the establishment of a Jim Crow system in the Dhahran oil camps in the 1930s, the book goes on to examine the period of unrest in the 1950s and 1960s when workers challenged the racial hierarchy of the ARAMCO camps while a small cadre of progressive Saudis challenged the hierarchy of the international oil market. The defeat of these groups led to the consolidation of America s Kingdom under the House of Fahd, the royal faction that still rules today. This is a gripping story that covers more than seventy years, three continents, and an engrossing cast of characters. Informed by first hand accounts from ARAMCO employees and top U.S. government officials, this book offers the true story of the events on the Saudi oil fields. After America s Kingdom, mythmakers will have to work harder on their tales about ARAMCO being magical, honorable, selfless, and enlightened. |
Table des matières
Captive Narratives A Brief and Unexceptional Introduction to the History of Firms and States | 1 |
THE NEAREST FARAWAY PLACE | 27 |
Arabian Frontiers | 31 |
American Camp | 62 |
The Wizards of Dhahran | 88 |
DESIRES EMPTY QUARTER | 121 |
Ayyam alKadalak Days of the Cadillac | 127 |
Eye of the Desert | 158 |
El Jefe Rojo | 194 |
Americas Kingdom | 228 |
Afterword | 265 |
Acknowledgments | 277 |
Notes | 279 |
Bibliography | 329 |
339 | |
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Expressions et termes fréquents
Abd al-Aziz Abqaiq administration al-Kharj Alireza ambassador American Camp amir Arab ARAMCO argued Barger began Beirut British building Cairo called campaign company's copper crown prince Dammam decades Department Dhahran Doheny Duce Egypt Egyptian Eisenhower employees Faisal firm's Folder force foreign frontiers Government Relations Hofuf house of Saud housing Ibn Muammar Ibn Saud industry inside Iran Iraq Italians Jidda June King Saud king's kingdom labor later living managers McConnell Memorandum Mexican Middle East military mining minister Mulligan Papers Najd Nasser National O'Dea officials Ohliger Oil Company operations organization Petroleum Phelps Dodge political president Press problem Ras Tanura reform Rentz reported Riyadh royal Saud's Saudi Arabia Saudi Camp Saudi workers schools Stegner Papers story strike Talal tion turned U.S. embassy United University Venezuela W. E. B. Du Bois Washington Yemen York