Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer: Saudi Arabia, America's Key Strategic Partner in the Middle East

The on-going Sunni-Shia war for Islam began anew in 1979. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran possess fundamentalist ideologies, which they use to increase their sphere of influence throughout the Islamic world. In this context, the past thirty years has a clear winner, Iran. Over the past several decades, the United States vital interests in the Middle East have grown. The U.S. remains committed to ensuring the unimpeded flow of oil to global markets and the security of Israel. The Sunni and Shia inspired violent extremist organizations used by each side to increase their sphere of influence emerged from the conflict, and now threaten Americas security, adding homeland security as a third U.S. national interest. The proliferation of these organizations and the ideology that inspires them are a symptom of the imbalance of power created as Iran evolved into a peer-competitor to Saudi Arabia in the region. To achieve Americas national interests, the U.S. must recognize the events in the Middle East in the context of the ongoing Sunni-Shia war.