ABSTRACT
Arab militaries tend not to enjoy the strongest of reputations. Lack of spending is not the problem. The Gulf monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have invested substantial sums in their military forces, including significant acquisitions of high-end military equipment. Egypt has received over $80 billion in military aid from the United States alone. These states have also had access to superior military training and education, having long sent their cadets and officers to the world’s most prestigious military schools and colleges. Weapon-supplying nations – principally France, the United Kingdom and the US – have been intimately involved, for a century in some cases, in the in-country military training and education of Arab forces.
