Estados Unidos e Arábia Saudita no mundo pós-Revolução Iraniana: uma perspectiva neogramsciana

Abstract

This research aims to elaborate an analysis of the USA foreign policy towards Saudi Arabia in the period between the Iranian Revolution (1979) and the end of Barack Obama administration (2016). It seeks to understand the nature and peculiarities of the bilateral relations from a critical - neogramscian - perspective. It intends to examine the relevance of these relations to the formation and preservation of the structural power of the United States, which sustains the global hegemony. First, the essential theoretical concepts and methodological aspects are presented, and their main limitations are discussed. Then, it is carried out a historical approach focused on structural movements within the historical bloc. It describes the rise of the so-called Dollar Wall Street Regime, which ensures to the United States the centrality of the global monetary and financial systems. Saudi Arabia has played a significant role in this process. Subsequently, two central spheres are delimited for the analysis of the bilateral relations in question: the oil market and the war industry. It is concluded that these sectors are substantial for the maintenance of American global power, and that in both there is a relationship of interdependence between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Therefore, Saudi Arabia occupies a central strategic role in USA foreign policy and is an important pillar of support for the current hegemonic system.