I realize that the Gulf Arab rulers have to regularly pay the Western powers a certain fee in exchange for protection, but why does it always have to be military-related?
Kuwait should copy the Qatari model instead, in my opinion. The Qataris are paying American/Western institutions, think tanks, and universities heaps of money in order for them to open branches in their country. Economically speaking, it's actually benefiting both sides. It's a lot better than the traditional Saudi method of simply buying military toys.
That's not how the world operates. The reason why GCC states buy mostly US military hardware and Western European (UK and France mainly) is simply because it's the best that you can buy. Nor is the GCC located in the most peaceful and stable part of the world to put it mildly.
You should not forget that all Muslim countries, including all European countries, mostly buy American hardware. Either that or Russian. Is that protection money likewise? It's just the buyer buying the best available products on the market. Those who cannot afford the best product are forced to buy lesser products (Russian, Chinese etc.)
How many countries have an indigenous arms industry that they really earn sustainable sums of money from? They can be counted on no more than 1-2 hands. Out of 200 sovereign nations.
Look at the US and Russia. They are FAR ahead of everyone else, in particular the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry#World.27s_largest_arms_exporters
KSA has close academic ties to the US. Saudi Arabian students at US universities are only outnumbered by Chinese, Indian and South Korean students.
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/24/local/la-me-saudi-student-20131125
That has been the case for quite some years. Saudi Arabian universities work increasingly closer with their American counterparts each year as well.
In fact for the past many decades the trade balance between KSA and the US has been in favor of KSA.
Official data from the US confirms this:
https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5170.html
Let alone the enormous sums of money (we are talking about a few trillion dollars here) that KSA and the remaining GCC states have invested in, in the US and the West.
So the GCC-US relations are mutually beneficial. If they were not, they would not have existed let alone for this long.
However there will come a point in time when GCC states will buy fewer American hardware (foreign as a whole) simply due to a much more developed ingenious arms industry. KSA will lead that development and I am sure that the GCC as a whole will work together on this front as is already the case. That however will not mean that GCC-US/West ties will deteriorate. They will simply evolve. Already KSA's main trading partner for instance, is China.
GCC has been really smart when it comes to business (Arabs have always been good businessmen, merchants and traders) in the sense that we have always done trade with every country as long as it benefited us.
Nevertheless as the GCC evolves and grows on all fronts and becomes more powerful so will its independent policies. US might be the sole superpower but no country in the MENA region can rely solely on them and everyone knows this.
Qatar, being a tiny state, is in a entirely different position here. As are Kuwait and Bahrain with all due respect.
Yes, Kuwait cannot do much on their own in case of a conflict with Israel or Iran (the only realistic opponents but even this is far-streched) but luckily for Kuwait, the region and the GCC, the country is part of the Peninsula Shield Force. Which means that every purchase by any GCC country should be seen in not only a narrowed national light but that of the entire GCC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsula_Shield_Force
A neutral police, especially considering Kuwait's recent history, does not really work in the ME and never did. This is not YET post WW2 Europe or post-Iron Curtain Europe. Such policy might work for tiny countries (in terms of population) and isolated ones (geographically) such as Sweden, Finland (only potential enemy being Russia next door which in case of a direct all-out war would always win) or mountainous, landlocked and small Switzerland whose history is very special in a European context.
But sure, Kuwait could have used that money on infrastructure, education etc. instead but it's the job of the Kuwaiti government to be able to balance between expenditure on such fields and the military.
However I do agree with one thing and that is that military spending in the region should decrease considerably (military spending is also partially fueling the unrest IMO) and that focus should be on establishing a real competitive indigenous arms industry. A project that you cannot create overnight. For that the GCC states should work closely together alongside other Arab states (preferably) and regional countries. For such a thing to truly become a valuable business it must be a Pan-Arab project. If the current stable Arab countries from the GCC in the East to Morocco in the West sat down and committed themselves to kickstart an indigenous arms industry, something promising would probably emerge on the long run.
Either that or large-scale involvement with current partners in the West or East but they are for obvious reasons less interested in such a thing unless they will benefit from it.
Anyway my future bet for a reliable long-term partner is China and the GCC and most of the Arab states have clearly understood that given the current booming trade activity, increasing ties on most fronts etc.
Lastly and most importantly the West knows that the current GCC-rulers are and will be more pro-West than any alternative so even if they wanted to remove them, that would be a bad investment. US might invest less and less time and energy in the MENA region in favor of China's sphere of influence but the MENA region, in particular the Arabian Peninsula, due to its natural riches, religious importance, strategic location between 3 continents etc. trade routes, potential, population size etc. will always remain a very important part of the world. Especially as it is next door to the heartland of the West (Europe). Whether both parties want this or not, that will not change, lol.
This was a long post, sorry.
