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Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the other Gulf Arab states became independent for the first time ever last century. They were never really nations before, but regional components of other empires, including the Byzantine, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Ottoman. Contrary to popular belief, contemporary Saudi Arabia had nothing to do with the origins of Islam, as the descendants of that empire were expelled in the 20th century and now comprise the ruling family of Jordan. Saudi Arabia was an entirely new creation of the al-Saud family after the Ottoman collapse.
The Gulf Arabs lucked out tremendously with the discovery of oil, which turned what had heretofore been a collection of impoverished desert tribes into some of the wealthiest people on earth. But they are still not really independent: They are dependent on the U.S. empire, without which they'd fall under sway of Turkish or Iranian empires as was the norm in history. This is also what they have in common with Israel, and what is driving their strategic convergence. 3 replies
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