Future Studies of the Saudi Arabia Rolein the Light of Relations with the United States in the Middle East )2017-2025(;Challenges and Strategies

One year after the establishment of the Saudi regime in 1933, Riyadh and Washington have constructed a strategic alliance between themselves. This unique relationship has continued so far with some fluctuations (2018). Meanwhile, there have been some signals in the US foreign policy in the Obama and Trump eras which indicates some changes in the US Middle East policy. The trends such as lowering Washington's dependence on Saudi oil and the American political shift from the Middle East to East Asia indicate that the future of Washington's relations with Saudi Arabia may change dramatically. The question posed in this article is how we can assess the future of Saudi Arabia and the United States alliance in the Trump era (assuming Trump`s election for the second term) and what the probable scenarios are for Saudi Arabia to play in the Middle East in the future. The hypothesis is that US foreign policy under the Trump administration has less human rights and democratic concerns and so long as Saudi Arabia is acting in favor of US grand strategy in the Middle East, their alliance will not change. Therefore, the strategic alliance of Riyadh-Washington will continue with more assuming security costs by Riyadh. Furthermore, in the most optimistic way, Saudi Arabia will play the role of the regional king following the great king (US) as well as the swing state strategy. This is a descriptive-analytic research based on Randall Schuler's theory of "balance of interests."