Exactly - the legend has it that before Jack Philby convinced Ibn Saud that maybe he should invite some oil companies in to prospect, the King could carry his entire treasury around with him in the saddlebags of his camel. There were no "riches" there until western technology and capital came in and developed them.
The main problem I see with the region is not too little wealth, but too much. Their "free" mineral wealth has enriched the region without all of the processes of urbanization and modernization the west (and later Japan and East Asia) went through. So now you have a midieval theocratic society with access to 21st century weaponry.
Jim Baird
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