Abstract

Uneasy Lie the Oil Kings' Heads

However the present Persian Gulf crisis is resolved, the monarchies of the region can never return to the era before August 2, 1990, when President of Iraq Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. This date will be seen by future historians as a milestone. It marks the beginning of the end of these remnants of feudalism in a region that has emerged as the crucial oil reservoir for the world's advanced capitalist countries. The monarchs, of course, gave financial support to Iraq; their wealth plus outside help from the West and the Soviet Union helped turn the tide for Saddam. Of the $102 billion Iraq spent on arms and ammunition during its war with Iran, more than $80 billion was provided by foreign powers in loans and grants; $50 billion of this sum came from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other gulf monarchies in the form of interest-free loans.