Black Gold and Political Ideals : A study of the relation between geopolitical discourse and trade

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is the study of the relations between foreign relations and trade. By employing the methodical approach of the theoretical school of critical geopolitics, the thesis aims to study the U. S. geopolitical discourse in order to understand the discursive components that construct an overarching geopolitical discourse, through a discourse analysis within the practical sphere of the U. S. geopolitical discourse, such as presidential speeches. Furthermore, a literary review of the trade relation between oil producing Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, and the U. S. is performed, and with the gathered data attempts to establish the level of economic interdependence. By benchmarking with the Freedom House (2016) political and civil freedom ranking, the thesis then attempts to study whether there are discursive conflicts at play, and then attempts to study the relation between that and the level of economic interdependence. The identified regime of truth in the U. S. foreign policy discourse is notably superceded in the case of Saudi Arabia, where numerous discursive conflicts are present, while at the same time being more economically independent with Saudi Arabia than with Venezuela. On the other hand, in the case of Venezuela, there appears to be few discursive conflicts, while the economic interdepence is smaller. Thus, while the results are tentative, this thesis argues that indications of a correlation between positive political relationship and strong trade relations is present, which even overrules the discursive regime of truth.