As the United States and Saudi Arabia redefine their relationship in a post-Sept. 11 world, Cal State San Bernardino will host a conference Thursday on the association between the two countries.

Representatives from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will visit the campus for discussions that will address the history and culture of Saudi Arabia and future ties with the United States after the Iraqi War. Organizers said the aim is to promote discussion on a challenging topic.

"The primary goal of this conference is to open the dialogue in an academic setting," said John Conley, dean of the college of social and behavioral sciences at Cal State San Bernardino.

The conference addressing relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia comes at a pivotal time in the history between both countries, said Thomas W. Lippman, author of "Inside the Mirage: America's Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia" and former Middle East bureau chief for The Washington Post.

For years, the United States and Saudi Arabia had a stable alliance, Lippman said. A wave of anti-Saudi sentiment in the United States after Sept. 11 and the U.S.-Iraq war have toppled that balance, and both sides are uncertain about their future.

"The Saudis are going through a massive nationwide moment of introspection thinking about what kind of a country they have and where they're going to be in 10 or 20 years," Lippman said.

Fueling the unknown is concern about how leadership in Iraq will change following the capture of Saddam Hussein.

The conference can only help improve understanding among both countries, said Saleh Alaswad, assistant professor of mass communication at King Saud University. Alaswad said most Saudis sympathize with Americans since Sept. 11 and are concerned about terrorism in their own country as well.

Cal State San Bernardino graduate student Alisen Moon, 24, is helping to organize the conference. The Riverside resident said she believes an academic setting offers a less political one for the issue.

"When academics discuss these things, they can talk at a more even level where they're not trying to accomplish a specific agenda," said Moon, who is working on her master's degree in national securities studies.