Making the Desert Modern: Americans, Arabs, and Oil on the Saudi Frontier, 1933–1973 by Chad H. Parker (review)

This timely study traces the formation and early history of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) and its role in the “nation building” of Saudi Arabia. Today, Aramco is the world’s biggest oil producer with an estimated value in the one to several-trillion-dollar range. A national oil company headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, it is historically significant that Aramco has publicly acknowledged that it may soon begin offering stock to the public. Whether or not that actually happens, it’s apparent that world oil markets have entered an unexpected period of oversupply and reduced prices. One productive way to begin the process of understanding the tremendous impact big oil has had, and continues to have, on global political and economic developments is to examine Aramco and the central role it has played.

Making the Desert Modern traces the history of Aramco from its formation through the mid-1970s. At its core, this book is a detailed and concise treatment of Aramco within the context of “American corporate power and state building in the Middle East” (p. 14). It starts by tracing the background of Aramco’s creation. From the initial efforts to find oil with the help of Bedouin guides, American oilmen saw themselves as “ushering the kingdom into the twentieth century through various development schemes” (p. 16). Saudi king Abdulaziz then gave Standard Oil of California (Socal) the concession that later evolved into Aramco. Balancing its function as an oil producer with public and governmental affairs work, Aramco had to negotiate cultural challenges in order to do business. Chapter 2 examines the ways in which Aramco supported the kingdom’s customs and in particular its identity as an Islamic state. The company further cemented its ties with the Saudi government by discriminating against Jews in hiring and by general anti-Israel policies despite opposition from groups such as the American Jewish Congress. Aramco countered that it was required to abide by the laws of its host nation.

As part of its nation-building efforts, Aramco brought Western medical technologies and practice to the kingdom. Chapters 3 and 4 examine Aramco’s efforts to both encourage a healthy workforce and provide new standards for health and hygiene in the kingdom. Company medical programs began training Saudi males to work as medical technicians, dental hygienists, and nurses. Aramco also paid particular attention to Saudi Arabia’s malaria problem. By promoting public health and preventive medicine, Aramco continued to ensure its commitment to being a corporate partner dedicated to nation building.

Agriculture in the Saudi kingdom is the focus of the book’s final chapter. This topic provides an interesting contrast to Aramco’s natural-resource extraction business. The oil giant worked at times in concert with the United States Agricultural Mission to assist in developing and promoting agriculture in the kingdom. Central to this effort was building new irrigation systems as well as water-pumping stations. Demonstration farms and efforts to establish agricultural production were part of a larger plan to settle the Bedouin. While agricultural production continued to increase, it came at a high price of government subsidies and costly water use.

By the early 1960s, Aramco had come close to accomplishing its side goal of nation building, and certainly the company knew what the ultimate result of its success would be. As author Chad Parker notes, Aramco “was a foreign firm operating in Saudi Arabia for its own benefit, and by the end of the sixties it was clear that control of Saudi resources could no longer remain in the hands of an American company” (p. 123). In 1973, Saudi Arabia acquired 25 percent of Aramco, and in 1976 plans were in place for the nation’s eventual total control of the oil giant. Parker has researched and written an important book about the geopolitical role of an...