ABSTRACT
Vital as a strategic partnership among the West, Saudi Arabia, and the other conservative Gulf states may be, there is little point in harboring illusions about the ease of forging such a partnership. The conservative Gulf states combine strategic importance and vulnerability in an area that is comparatively near the USSR, but at the furthest global limit from U.S. military power. They are among the most tempting strategic targets in the world, with the possible exception of those African nations that provide the West with its supplies of strategic minerals, and the conservative Gulf states need Western military assistance as much as the West needs Gulf oil. Vulnerability alone, however, may not be sufficient motive to drive the Gulf states toward collective security or a partnership with the West.
