The rise of great powers: starting from military industry

Kuwait.

A small country in the corner of the Middle East.

However, Kuwait is known as the Pearl of the Gulf.

All this is because of the huge wealth under Kuwait: oil!

As a typical Middle Eastern region, Kuwait's climate is between desert climate and Mediterranean climate. There is no oasis like Iraq in the whole territory. It is all desert plains, interspersed with some hills. There are no rivers or lakes, only endless deserts. The climate is extremely hot and dry. Temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius are very common. There is very little rainfall and fresh water is extremely scarce.

In this climate, it is simply impossible for Kuwait to grow food.

Kuwaitis mainly rely on coastal activities such as fishing and pearl collecting to support themselves until oil was discovered.

Kuwait's territory is literally floating on oil. The proven oil reserves account for 10% of the world's oil reserves. Moreover, the oil layer is very shallow, with the shallowest being only 1,500 meters. The oil pressure is very high, and there is no need for an oil pump. As long as a hole is drilled, the oil will spray out by itself, which is the so-called high-yield self-spraying crude oil. Therefore, after Kuwait entered the oil era, its economy began to develop rapidly.

However, at the beginning, Kuwait had always been a colony and its sovereignty was not complete. Therefore, at the beginning, the oil exploration agreement signed with foreign oil companies stipulated that only 90 cents of tax should be paid to the Kuwaiti government for every ton of crude oil extracted. Foreign oil companies competed to explore and invest there. From the end of World War II to 1962, the British and American "Kuwait Petroleum Company" monopolized all crude oil production in Kuwait. Huge profits were seized by these companies.

It was not until 1962 that Kuwait finally got rid of colonial rule and became a monarchy, and stipulated that the Emir was the head of state. The post of head of state can only be inherited by the descendants of Mubarak Sabah.

Therefore, Kuwait has lived a rich life. Relying on oil, Kuwait can obtain a large amount of foreign exchange and make a lot of money and profits every year.

Kuwait is also one of the five founding members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Kuwait's daily oil production is about 3 million barrels. At the current price of $35 per barrel, it can earn $105 million per day through oil exports, and $38.325 billion in oil exports per year, which is more than double the total amount of goods exported by China in the past.

The population of Kuwait is about 1.65 million, which means that just relying on oil revenue, without doing anything, the per capita GDP exceeds 23,000, which is a developed country in the world.

Kuwait, like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other oil-producing countries, has implemented high social welfare.

Jaber Ahmed Sabah, the Emir, is facing a headache at this time.

Others will be excited and even celebrate wildly because Iraq has successively annihilated two tank armored divisions of Persia.

But he was worried.

Since Kuwait's independence, the Iraqi government has been looking for various opportunities to annex Kuwait, and even threatened to invade Kuwait more than once. After the Arab League planned to form an international Arab force to oppose Iraq's actions in Kuwait, the invasion was finally avoided. When the Iran-Iraq War broke out, Kuwait supported Iraq and expressed its attitude in this way. We are all Arab brothers and are one family. If Iraq wants to expand, it will go to Persia. Kuwait is a good Arab brother and fully supports Iraq.

But now, Ahmed is worried that if Saddam's ambitions are greater, he will take action against Kuwait.

Compared with Iraq, Kuwait is undoubtedly weak.

The total force of Kuwait is only 20,000, equipped with only 27 tanks, more than 90 artillery pieces and 18 attack helicopters.

Because of the high social welfare, no one wants to be a soldier, so although Kuwait's military expenditure is not low, its combat effectiveness is very weak.

Now the armored forces strongly request to replace the Type 80 main battle tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

Because the tanks they are using now do not have air conditioning, while the Type 80 main battle tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns do.

The combat effectiveness of the Type 80 main battle tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in the Middle East has attracted the attention of Middle Eastern countries.

Whether a weapon is good or not ultimately depends on its performance on the battlefield.

Even the US M60 main battle tank and the British Chieftain main battle tank can be destroyed by a single shot from the Type 80 main battle tank, and the superior performance of the Type 80 main battle tank is fully demonstrated.

"It seems that the troops should be re-equipped!" Ahmed muttered.

Kuwait established diplomatic relations with China as early as 1971, but the relationship between the two sides was not close.

In Kuwait's view, China is poor and backward, how can it compare with the Soviet Union, Europe and the United States?

But now, the superior performance of China's weapons has been fully demonstrated. In recent years, the Middle East has had more contacts and exchanges with China, and has gradually understood China better and changed its views on China. They have all strengthened their ties with China.

Before, Kuwait bought weapons from countries such as Syria, and Kuwait paid for them.

But now it is different. Facing the voice of the troops, Ahmed has to change his strategy and re-equip the troops.

"Type 80 main battle tank, Type 80 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, firearms." Ahmed thought to himself, "By the way, I heard that the 'Eagle Strike' anti-ship missile and the 'Aegis' missile defense system are very advanced and can also be purchased."

"Strengthen the army so that Saddam, the bastard, will behave himself and not want to keep an eye on Kuwait." Ahmed muttered.

The relationship between the two sides is good now, but Ahmed is not taking it lightly and is wary of Iraq.

Kuwait is never afraid of spending money.

Kuwait has more than 15 billion US dollars in foreign exchange reserves. In addition, Kuwait has a large amount of wealth in Europe and the United States, which adds up to more than 50 billion US dollars.

30,000 troops, even if all of them are replaced, how much can it cost?

"By the way, now that young people in the country don't want to be soldiers, maybe they can learn from Saudi Arabia and hire some mercenaries. China's security companies have a good reputation." Ahmed touched his beard.

The security company owned by Panshan Group has now become famous in Africa and the Middle East.

In terms of cost, it is even more cost-effective than raising troops.

And these mercenaries are not like other mercenaries who will cause trouble.

"We need to let the people in China take the initiative to contact and talk." Ahmed had a plan in mind.

Ahmed was still willing to cooperate with China. China has an advantage, that is, it only wants money, will not attach any political conditions, and always keeps its word and keeps its promises, unlike Europe and the United States, which say one thing and do another, and will give you temporary money from time to time, and will not give you goods if you don't pay more.

Ahmed likes this point very much.

Kuwait lacks everything, but not money.

As long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem.

Even Ahmed is thinking whether he should visit China to open a new chapter of cooperation between the two countries.