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Article: Comfort blanket for the Gulf. (Arab sheikdoms)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- December 5, 1992
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BE SORRY for the sheikhdoms of the Gulf? It is a little hard. After all, they provide free education and health care for their pampered citizens, low or no-interest consumer and mortgage loans, guaranteed civil-service jobs for college graduates and a host of other perquisites and subsidies. Yet they are poor little rich states when it comes to less tangible assets. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait shook them badly. Despite all their high-tech toys and comfortable way of life, the Gulf states are rich in vulnerability.
Their uneasiness about what Iran and Iraq may be up to has led them to shed all inhibitions about turning to the West as a military patron. They have also ...