Bridging East & West: Saudi Aramco World, 1949 - Present
SAUDI ARABIA

In November 1949 the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) launched an inter-office newsletter called Aramco World which was changed in 2000 to Saudi Aramco World.

As oil took on greater global importance and Aramco grew with the oil boom of the 1960’s and 1970’s, Aramco World grew, too, into a bimonthly educational magazine styled along the lines of such popular US magazines as Life, Look and The Saturday Evening Post. Historical, geographical and cultural articles helped the American employees and their families appreciate an unfamiliar land.

Since the mid-1960's, the magazine has been aimed at readers outside as well as inside the company, worldwide. Its articles have spanned the Arab and Muslim worlds, past and present, with special attention to their interconnections with the cultures of the West. Its purpose, goal and hope remain education and greater understanding in a world that is ever more interdependent.

- Dick Doughty

Bridging East & West highlights some of the best photography through each decade of the
magazine's history.