Saudi Arabia, as a Middle Eastern country, is rich in oil resources. As of September 2023, Saudi Arabia's oil production has reached a staggering 10 million barrels per day, accounting for about one-tenth of the world's total production.
Saudi Arabia is rich in oil resources, with high production and large reserves, with an estimated recoverable oil reserves of up to 270 billion barrels, accounting for about 16% of the world's reserves. In other words, with the slightest movement of Saudi Arabia, global oil prices can fluctuate wildly.
Therefore, Saudi Arabia has made a lot of money with its oil resources, and it is very appropriate to describe it as "rich and oily".
Money is a double-edged sword, and while it brings material abundance, it can also bring disaster. Like Syria and Iraq in the Middle East, although rich in oil resources, they have been plagued by domestic turmoil and war.
This begs the question, why is Saudi Arabia's fate so lucky? It's so rich in oil, but why is there no one competing for it?
1.Saudi Arabia became one of China's loyal buyers of missiles when it displayed a Dongfeng-3 medium-range ballistic missile at a military parade in April 2014.
This missile is important for Saudi Arabia to maintain. 2.Why did Saudi Arabia buy Dongfeng 3? This is undoubtedly because *** is threatened, therefore, they need a strong ** that can defend the country.
During the purchase of the Dongfeng-3, a particularly interesting thing happened in Saudi Arabia, which added an interesting touch to the introduction of missiles.
In 1973, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the head of Saudi Defence Forces, recalled a war that changed the situation in the Middle East – the Yom Kippur War.
At that time, conflicts broke out in Israel, Syria and Egypt, and the United States played an important role in them. The support and practical actions of the United States have greatly strengthened Israel's strength, but at the same time, it has also seriously damaged the situation in the Middle East.
The joint boycott of American oil by Arab countries has led to an "oil crisis" in the United States, which has spread to other industrialized countries and seriously affected economic development. At the same time, Arab oil-producing countries have also suffered from the "embargo on the United States" policy, oil production has plummeted, and the market share of Middle Eastern oil has fallen sharply.
Therefore, this move by Arab countries is "harmful to others and not beneficial to themselves". As the saying goes, "the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman profits", Israel has gained the greatest benefits in this "melee", and its military strength has also been rapidly improved, and it has mastered a large number of advanced equipment.
Even more of a headache for Arab countries is the rumor that Israel, with the support of the United States, already has a nuclear **.
Saudi Arabia is deeply disturbed because its ** strength is backward and it does not possess nuclear **, and if a conflict breaks out again, it will have no power to fight back. In order to protect itself, Saudi Arabia decided to seek a more powerful **, and its own manufacturing ** is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so it chose to import it directly**.
The Saudis initially set their sights on Western countries to try to get ** from them, but Israel often intervened, making Saudi deals with Western countries difficult.
By 1980, the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war had made Saudi Arabia feel threatened like never before, and two years later, Israel attacked Lebanon on a major scale, making it impossible for Saudi Arabia to sit still.
In 1985, Saudi Arabia tried to buy American "Lance" ballistic missiles, but was ruthlessly rejected by the United States, which made them feel very aggrieved. In this case, Prince Sultan put forward a suggestion, that is, since the United States and Western countries are unwilling, it is better to turn to China for cooperation.
In 1987, the Saudi delegation arrived in China and expressed its willingness to purchase Chinese Dongfeng-3 ballistic missiles. The maximum range of the Dongfeng-3 ballistic missile reaches 2800 km, which is higher than that of the United States"Spears"The missile is more than 20 times farther away.
This means that it is possible to defend not only against the threats of Iran and Israel, but even to India. Thus, the purchase of Dongfeng-3 ballistic missiles will provide Saudi Arabia with a powerful defense capability and deterrence.
In a **out**trade, Saudi Arabia said that it could be paid in cash. An interesting scene happened, due to China's lack of experience in exporting **, and fearing that the bid would be too high to scare Saudi Arabia, they set the price of a Dongfeng 3 at 100 million yuan.
However, the Saudis misunderstood and mistakenly thought it was $100 million each.
Saudi Arabia buys missiles from China for $100 million each, and pays the bill directly without counter-offering. Being rich is not the same, atmospheric! As a sign of sincerity, the Chinese side also gave one away, and as a result, Saudi Arabia bought 36 missiles for $3.5 billion.
At the end of 1987, Saudi Arabia quietly shipped the missiles back to China in containers, and it didn't take long for the Dongfeng-3 missiles to play an important role. In the 1990 Gulf War, Iraq sent 100,000 troops to easily occupy Kuwait and amass forces on the Saudi border.
However, the Saudis have DF-3 missiles in their hands and are therefore not afraid of Iraq. It is Iraq that should really be worried.
It is precisely for this reason that Saudi Arabia's influence in the Middle East has continued to increase, and the situation in the entire Middle East has also developed in a stable direction.
The deal between Saudi Arabia and China is a model of "doing more with less", and it is definitely worth it for decades of peace and stability in exchange for $3.5 billion. Saudi Arabia has tasted the sweetness of cooperation with China, gradually deepening the "military cooperation" between the two countries, and at the recent Zhuhai Air Show, Saudi Arabia and China signed an arms trade order worth more than $4 billion.
Saudi Arabia's military order covers a variety of advanced **, such as 300 Rainbow-4B Chada drones, 15 sets of YJ-21E ballistic missiles, and "Silent Hunter" laser air defense**.
In addition to strengthening its military capabilities, Saudi Arabia's political wisdom has enabled it to remain safe in the face of threats. In addition, the formation of the petrodollar has also made the dollar dominant in the international financial system, providing economic security for Saudi Arabia.
In the 70s of the last century, the United States again fell into an oil crisis, which coincided with the collapse of the "system". The United States approached Saudi Arabia, and the two countries plotted to establish a "petrodollar" system.
As the largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia decided to use the dollar as the sole pricing currency for oil exports, prompting the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to agree in 1975 to price petroleum products in dollars and invest oil proceeds in U.S. ** bonds in exchange for U.S. military protection to maintain the dollar's supremacy.
This kind of "military protection" is not only aimed at Saudi Arabia, but also about the hegemony of the US dollar.
Saudi Arabia benefits from this system, which is very cost-effective to have both military protection and ensure worry-free oil sales. The petrodollar system has worked well over the past few decades, with Saudi Arabia and the United States using each other, and the U.S. presence putting pressure on countries that have ambitions against the Saudis.
Any country that thinks differently will take into account the reaction of the United States before acting, so except for those extremist groups and *** no country dares to challenge the authority of Saudi Arabia.
While the act of "hugging your thighs" may sound awkward, it actually has a significant effect. In addition to Dongfeng-3 and the "petrodollar", Saudi Arabia was able to avoid encroachment from other countries, which was due to religious factors.
Religious Unity"Islam is one of the main religions in the Middle East, and they have regulations regarding Hajj. This rule requires all Muslims who are in good health and financially able to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, provided that the road is safe.
Mecca, known as the holiest site of Islam, is also the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Every year, millions of Muslims come to Mecca from all over the world for the Hajj pilgrimage to show their devotion and respect for Islam.
In addition to Mecca, Islam has two holy places, Jerusalem and Medina.
Jerusalem is unique in that it is the holiest place of Judaism, ** and Islam, among which the Islamic pilgrimage site is the "Dome of the Rock" on the Temple Mount.
Similarly, Medina, located in the mountains of Syrat in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is a loyal guardian of this holy place. For the adherents of Islam, the holy place is a deep reverence and faith, and as a result, Saudi Arabia has become their spiritual home.
Saudi Arabia is united with Middle Eastern countries by virtue of religious relations, and any country that is hostile to Saudi Arabia is hostile to Muslims around the world, and aggression against Saudi Arabia will be opposed by Muslims around the world.
Thus, Saudi Arabia's security is inextricably linked not only to its military prowess, but also to its political and religious beliefs, which boil down to wealth, power, and wisdom.