On oil...

Mind you, I wasn't suggesting that the only thing that could bring a similar situation to another Arab state as we find in Yemen is the exhausting of all oil reserves... far from, in fact.

I'm convinced that the science is correct when it says that there is at least 200 years worth of oil under the Saudi Arabian desert... even factoring in increased demand each and every one of those years. Add to that the vast reserves here in the US, in the North Atlantic, South America and (most recently discovered) off the West African shelf... all of which are still virtually untouched... and you see that waiting for the Saudis and the other "questionable" Arab states to run dry is a loosing strategy for us.

No, my comments were inferring that, should a national economy that is so utterly dependant on a single export commodity (like the Saudis are with crude oil) suddenly find that the market for that commodity is drying up faster than they can adjust their infrastructure... well, then you have another Yemen, just 13 times bigger and suddenly bordering 4 other marginally stable states.

While I will admit that Saudi Arabia has one really huge advantage over all the other Muslim states in the entire region... namely, Mecca and Medina and the tens of millions of hadjii pilgrims that come to those towns each year spending their drachmas, dinarii, sheqels, rials, pounds, and lira (and dollars, too... don't forget!), there is no chance that the revenue from the hadj could even moderately make up for the wealth lost to the Saudi family if the West could reduce its export demands by even 20%... which would equate to (literally) $200 billion each year in lost monies for the Kingdom. Cut THAT kind of revenue out of the budget, and watch the Saudis learn how to play real nice, real fast... and you can take that to the bank.