The deal of U.S. Air Defense Missiles to Jordan in 1976 "A Study of a period in the History of U.S.-Jordan-Saudi Relations"

Abstract

Arms deals are one of the most important aspects of relations between states in contemporary history, especially in the Middle East, which is always inflamed with conflicts and wars. Therefore, the completion of any deal must go through a series of negotiations and complex procedures aimed at removing the obstacles that stand in its way and that make it a difficult process. The parties are sometimes intertwined, especially if we take into account two main factors: the Arab-Israeli conflict regionally, and the Cold War globally. Perhaps the US Hawk missile deal to Jordan in 1976 is a clear model for this, as Jordan is a country that shares a border line with Israel that is the longest among the Arab countries, and the required weapon was a qualitative American weapon. The Arabs and Israel, then the case soon turned into a problem related to securing the necessary funding for it, which made the deal fall within the framework of a tripartite US-Jordanian-Saudi diplomatic entanglement, as the latter pledged to finance the deal and thus was a pivotal party in it. This research is an attempt to trace this deal historically and examine the aspects that affected it and document it, based on an important group of original American documents and a group of local and international newspapers that synchronized its events, which helped to give a clear picture of an important aspect of what we can call "deal diplomacy." weapons in the Middle East.