Weaning off oil

When it comes to major political and economic policies in the Middle East, is the United States about to break a six decade-long habit? That the question can be asked without provoking derision suggests that something is indeed changing in Washington and in the region. After World War II, a cornerstone of American policy in the Arab world was the protection of oil supplies. A quid pro quo was reached with Saudi Arabia: the US would militarily protect the kingdom and the Gulf in general, in exchange for which the Saudis would uphold stability in the oil markets, maintaining relatively cheap oil prices by using the kingdom’s enormous surplus capacity to regulate price and demand. In recent years, however, particularly after the 9/11 attacks, Saudi Arabia’s image in the US has taken a dive. In the public eye, the kingdom was transformed from a long-term ally into a fount of