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their king was alive the authority was not to be transferred
to another generation.
During this period, the country was ruled successively
by Kings Saud (19531964-), Faisal (19641975-), Khalid
(19751982). It is well known that King Faisal was the
most prominent among them and was described as the
reformist King, who succeeded, at first together with his
great father, and then, on his own, in ridding his country of
backwardness and pushing it towards the modern age.
Fiasal is the first son of Abdulaziz to be born in the
country’s capital. He remained loyal to his smaller country,
which he loved, till the end of his life. Before his own
eyes, and through his own efforts, instead of the narrow
winding alleys with corroded and dispersed palm trees, the
mud (one or two-storey) houses that looked as if dyed with
the dark, monotonous and depressing color of the desert,
there sprang up a city of sky-blue buildings, wide, modern
streets and green parks that pleased onlookers. Prince,
and, subsequently King Faisal did not have any brothers
born to his mother (she died at an early age). His closest
companion was a slave named Marzook, who had been
given to him as a present by his father and later became
close to him as his shadow and who many years later,
during a visit to the United States, surprised “democratic”
customs officials when he reserved with his master a full
table and luxurious offices. The young prince had grown
up in the house of his grandfather (on his mother’s side),
who implanted in the soul of the young boy a deep religious
spirit. He received good home education, was widely read
and was fluent in several foreign languages. He inherited
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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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from his father a very important trait: the perpetual ability
to learn. Abdulaziz was could see in his second son,
very early on, a sharp mind, self-control and a feeling of
personal dignity. It is not surprising that King Abdulaziz,
while thinking of the future of the country, said to those
close to him: “I wish I had several sons like Faisal..” It is
well known that, in the east, men mature and come of age
earlier than in other countries. Hence, King Abdulaziz had
entrusted to his fourteen-year old son the task of heading
a delegation to the British Isles.
Civilized London, with its contradictions, mysteries,
greenery and colorful plants in its parks, had left a deep
impression on the young Saudi, who was impressed with
what he saw. For the first time in his life, he saw the luxurious
buildings, the glittering shop windows and the flowing river
with its perforated bridges. This was his first encounter with
telephones, typewriters and airplanes. At Greenwich, he
saw through the colossal telescope the stars and the planets
in the vast sky, in plain daylight. All this was for him like
a miracle. However, remembering his father’s instructions,
Faisal made a point of not showing his emotions.
After a tour in Europe, Faisal was appointed Minister
of Foreign Affairs. Ever since then, his father considered
him mature enough for such an appointment, as the young
prince had contributed to the drawing up of the state’s
foreign policy in terms of practices and theory, that is
tactically and strategically. Time passed quickly and the
world changed rapidly. In strengthening the status of the
state, the political conception of Faisal himself was formed
and he laid down his approach to the promotion of alliance
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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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relations with the other Arab countries and keeping away
from confronting great powers. On the other hand, the
young prince was aware that the developing state should
survive without support from others.
During the post-war period, the home and foreign
policy of the Kingdom was completed under the impact of
the new oil factor. In the early fifties, relations with Great
Britain were far from being smooth, for different reasons.
But with the United States, they were strengthened and
were reflected in various fields. In fact, the United States
had intensive interests in establishing good relations with
the “Oil reservoir” state . Thus in the late forties, it granted
it loans amounting to millions of dollars and constructed
a network of railways. In the north-eastern part of the
country, it began constructing the American military base
in return for which the Americans undertook to supply the
Kingdom with modern weapons and to prepare and train
Saudi pilots. The United States showed its readiness to
help in the search for, and exploration of, natural resources,
to develop means of transport and communications,
enhance agriculture, and build routes for motorcars, and,
obviously, extract oil and prepare storage facilities. As a
result of the activities of American oil companies, there
was a construction boom that attracted the poor from the
desert and established new cities and modern industrial
institutions. Whether in this manner or otherwise, this
alliance was based on mutual interests although, in light
of the logic of the present, such alliance may prove to have
some negative aspects. However, the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia has succeeded in making the first and mightiest
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