BORDERS: Vast expanses of sand, some scraggly mountains, and shallow local seas . . . but mostly just the sand. Moving tanks or soldiers or supplies in and out of most of the Arabian Peninsula is simply a bitch of a task.
RESOURCES: Oil. Jihad. Sand. And oh so very much of all three.
DEMOGRAPHY: Like much of the Persian Gulf, the explosion of oil income in the latter half of the twentieth century enabled mass subsidies and a flood of foreign workers to do all the work, freeing the Saudis to reproduce in air conditioning. During the past two decades, however, the economy has stalled somewhat, taking birthrates with it.
MILITARY MIGHT: Saudi Arabia is one of the largest buyers of military equipment in the world, but much of it is operated by veterans of foreign militaries such as those of Pakistan and Egypt.
ECONOMY: Heavily oil-dependent. Oil sales make up 70 percent of state revenues.
OUTLOOK: Saudi Arabia is in the rare position of having the money, military equipment, and the will to position itself as a legitimate counterweight to Iran in a region long defined by American (mis)management.
IN A WORD: Arsonist.