The United States' Uneasy Alliance with Saudi Arabia Listen

Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, shakes hands with President Bush

Forums: Should the U.S. pull its troops out of Saudi Arabia?

They are America's key ally in the Persian Gulf region. But as many as 15 of the September 11th hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. The ruling royal House of Saud practices an ultra-stringent form of Islam, Wahhabiism, that some claim is a breeding ground for Muslim militants. And yet, the United States has a strong military presence in Saudi Arabia and offers an open diplomatic hand to the royal family.

Presidential administrations past and present have claimed that Saudi Arabia is the keystone for stability in the Gulf region, but is the USA protecting Saudi Arabia's stability or its oil? This hour, the petroleum protectorate: America's alliance with the Royal House of Saudi.

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Forums: Which party do you trust to set the nation's fiscal policy?

Deficit Economics Listen

On Monday, President Bush warned that the federal budget could slip into a deficit for the first time in four years. Democrats have been quick to blame the tax cut that the President pushed through last year. But Bush says the blame lies squarely on the economic slowdown and the war on terrorism.

In the prosperous days of the late 1990s, Americans got used to balanced budgets and even budget surpluses. But those days of prosperity seem to be over. This hour, Harvard economic policy guru Benjamin Friedman explains whether having a balanced budget really matters.

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