Rashid Yasin
04/24/2018
History 3390
Subject: 6 things to know about Saudi Arabia
KSA & MBS on an expedition
1) The dependence on oil:
Saudi Arabia's economy is highly dependent on oil. Saudi Arabia owns the second largest
proven petroleum reserves in the world. In addition to oil, Saudi Arabia has the fifth largest
natural gas reserves, third highest total estimated value of natural reserves and the largest
exporter of oil. These are the reasons of a thriving economy and since 1938 oil has
strengthened Saudi's presence in the world. By using these huge reserves for mega revenues
has resulted in heavy subsidies for food and fuel for the people and made the royal family one
of the wealthiest families in the world. After the 2014 oil crash and budget deficit, the country
is looking forward to new plans after recovering from the collapse. Newly announced Vision
2030 by MBS introduces the privatization of state oil company Aramco. Saudi Arabia was also
involved in the creation of OPEC, an organization of Petroleum Exporting. OPEC was created in
Baghdad, Iraq in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It was created to
influence oil prices in the world, regulate supply of oil, generate steady income for producers
and to unify the countries with the most reserves in the world. These five countries own 73% of
the oil reserves and as of today OPEC has 14 members. Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil can be
proven by numbers, 42% of GDP, 90% of export earnings and 87% Saudi Budget revenues are
generated by the petroleum sector.
2) Saudi Arabia's Foreign Battles:
Saudi Arabia is involved in multiple clashes on various issues within the region. For the current
government, the greatest struggle is to solve the foreign policy puzzle. Saudi Arabia is under the
radar in the Middle East region and across the globe, they’ve recently ignited tensions with
Lebanon, they are co-heading the boycott against their neighbor Qatar, leading the Arab
coalition in Yemen and in a complicated battle with Iran. Starting with Lebanon,
Lebanon: Lebanon is a country caught in between Iran and Saudi Arabia's complex crossfire.
Lebanese prime minister (Saad Al Hassan Hariri) announced his resignation and the Shia leader
of Lebanon, Hasan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of forcing his resignation, he further accused
Saudi Arabia of terrorism in Lebanon. Hezbollah, a Shia wing, is a strong supporter of Iran and
due to the conflict Saudi asked all their citizens to leave Lebanon and the blame game got
worse. Saudi then blamed Iran for military action against Saudi Arabia by firing a missile
through Yemen and moreover the Prime minister Saad took canceled is resignation too.
Qatar: Qatar was another victim of Saudi Arabia and Iran tension as Saudi Arabia accused Iran
of influencing Qatar and Saudi wanted to overthrow that in any case. Moreover, Saudis came in
full force against the tiny nation of Qatar by a complete boycott. Egypt, UAE, Bahrain also
joined in. This disp...
