Big as its Ruler

When Muhammad Ibnu Bdi l-Wahhab (an Arab religious leader) successfully consolidated an otherwise disintegrated country in 1744 to give birth to Saudi Arabia, little would he have known that he was building a nation that’s almost floating on the elixir of power – oil. Since inception, there were a series of raids and attacks by rulers of the Ottoman Empire and other contenders from the Arab world to conquer the trade route between Arabian nations and the rest of the world. It was only in 1902 that late Sultan Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (better known as Ibn Saud) won back Riyadh from his rival family and ended the struggle for power over the country. The West accepted Saudi Arabia as an independent state only when it signed the Treaty of Jedda on May 20, 1927. Ibn Saud’s dynasty continues to rule till date through current Saudi monarch King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, who is a staunch supporter of the West. While the political fate was decided in 1927, it took three more years before the economic destiny of the country was completely transformed; with discovery of its oil reserves. Since then, the economic ascent of Saudi Arabia has made history. Also historical have been its strong ties with the United States, although, though relations were strained for a while when fifteen of the nineteen hijackers of 9/11 were found to be of Saudi Arabian origin.

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Source: IIPM Publication, Editor: Arindam Chaudhuri