How were the foreigners perceived, and how did ibn Saud go about getting what he wanted?
The oil concession took place at a very important time. You have to remember that in the early 1930s, there was a world recession, and also there was a desperate need for cash in Saudi Arabia as a result of the decline of the number of pilgrims who were visiting Mecca, which was actually a very important source of income for the Treasury. So there were talks about looking for oil in the country, and ibn Saud did actually accept that from the very beginning. Now, how to serve the idea to those elements in society who would object to the concession? It wasn’t actually brought or discussed as looking for oil. The main concern at the time was water. So as long as there were geological missions trying to search for water, that was fine. But you have also to remember that these searchers, people who arrived, were not in the middle of the population or in the areas where there is a high concentration of the population. Most of them were in the deserts, and as long as they had the right number