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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/international/slot1_091903.html?pagewanted=2
Pillars of the US-Saudi Relationship
(Council on Foreign Relations) Rachel Bronson - The basic premise of the U.S.-Saudi relationship has collapsed. Throughout the Cold War, Saudi Arabia was important to the U.S. because of its oil, because the U.S. wanted to keep it out of the hands of the Soviets, because of its geographic position, and because of its ideology. As a theocracy, it provided a natural antidote to communism. Today, the pillars of this relationship have fallen away, and it is not clear what this relationship is about except a crude exchange of security in return for oil.