1st Edition

Saudi Arabia Guarding The Desert Kingdom

By Anthony H Cordesman Copyright 1997
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    Since the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia's tenuous security situation has been altered by an ongoing U.S. presence. This volume provides detailed analysis of the state of the Saudi economy and military forces, its growing internal security problems and the stability of its regime, and its reliability as an energy exporter.

    List of Tables and Illustrations, Preface, Acknowledgments, Introduction, Historical Origins,Strategic Background, Territory, Strategic Depth, and Vulnerabilities, Strategic Concerns, External Security Issues, Iran and Iraq: The Primary Threats, Border Disputes and Tensions, Relations with Yemen, Relations with Oman, Relations with Qatar, Relations with Kuwait, Relations with Bahrain and the UAE, Relations with Israel and Policy, Toward the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Relations with Israel, Relations with Egypt, Relations with Syria, Relations with Jordan, The Greater Arab World, Internal Change and Internal Security, The Monarchy, the Majlis al-Shura, and the Royal Family, Rumors and a History of Stability, The Rise of King Fahd, Current Prospects for the Succession, The Need for Change in the Next Generation, The Creation of the Majlis al-Shura, Changes in the Saudi Cabinet, Demographics and Population Pressures, Islam and Secularism, Trying to Co-opt Islamic Extremism, Mixing Co-option with Repression, Islamic Extremists Tum to Violence, Ethnic, Sectarian, and Regional Frictions, Reform in Saudi Politics, Economic and Social Issues, Over-Dependence on Oil Wealth, Growing Pressure on the Saudi Budget, The Problem of Debt, Water, Economics, and Vulnerability, Subsidies, Foreign Labor, and Structural Economic Problems, The Threat of Subsidies, The Threat of Foreign Labor, Redefining the Saudi Social Contract, Oil and Petroleum Related Issues, Recent Oil Production, Expanding Oil Field Production, Export Facilities and Distribution, Refining, Petrochemicals, Natural Gas, Prognosis, Saudi Military Forces, Saudi Military Manpower, Saudi Military Expenditures, Saudi Estimates of Saudi Military Expenditures, US and IISS Estimates of Saudi Military Expenditures, “Guns” Versus “Butter” and Saudi Defense Expenditures as a Percent of Total Government Expenditures, Saudi Arms Imports, The Volume of Saudi Arms Imports, Sources of Saudi Arms Imports, The Changing Nature of Saudi Arms Imports, Military Imports from the US, The Financing of Saudi Military Imports, Commissions and Special Fees, The Saudi Army, Saudi Army Organization and Deployment, Saudi Tanks, Saudi Other Armored Vehicles, Saudi Anti-Tank Weapons, Saudi Artillery, Saudi Army Air Defense, Saudi Army Aviation, Saudi Army Readiness and Warfighting Capabilities, The Saudi National Guard, The Organization of the National Guard, The Equipment of the National Guard, The Readiness and Effectiveness of the National Guard, The Saudi Navy, Current Saudi Naval Forces, Saudi Naval Development, Saudi Naval Infrastructure and C4I Capabilities, Saudi Navy Force Expansion Plans, Saudi Naval Readiness and Warfighting Capabilities, The Saudi Air Force, The Current Size of the Saudi Air Force, Growing Saudi Air Force Proficiency, The Saudi Tornado Buy and AI-Yamamah Agreement, Saudi Modernization After the Gulf War: The F-15S, Saudi Modernization After the Gulf War: More Tornadoes, The Saudi Air Force in the Late 1990s, The Readiness and Warfighting Capabilities of the Saudi Air Force, The Saudi Air Defense Force, The Current Strength of Saudi Land-Based, Air Defense Forces, Integrating Saudi and Southern Gulf Air Defense, The Effectiveness of the Saudi Air Defense Force and Options for GCC and Southern Gulf Cooperation, Saudi Paramilitary and Internal Security Forces, Saudi Missile Capabilities, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, and the West, Reform and the Saudi Government, The Saudi “Social Contract,” Saudi Military Development, Saudi Cooperation with Other Southern Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and Western Power Projection, Problems in Saudi Security Cooperation with the West, The Need for a Stable Saudi and Western Strategic Partnership, Sources and Methods, Notes, About the Book and Author

    Biography

    Anthony H. Cordesman has served in senior positions in the office for the secretary of defense, NATO, and the U.S. Senate. He is currently a senior fellow and Co-Director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an adjunct professor of national security studies at Georgetown University, and a special consultant on military affairs for ABC News. He lives in Washington, D.C.