Page 115 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

CHAPTER 4

Silicon from Sand: Essential

Background on the GCC

INTRODUCTION

At the height of the oil crisis of the 1970s, Henry Kissinger, the
renowned US secretary of state, paid a visit to King Faisal of Saudi
Arabia. Saudi Arabia, through its charismatic oil minister Zaki
Yamani, was at the forefront of an oil “embargo” that was having a
huge and painful impact on the global economy. Insiders report that
Secretary Kissinger’s objective was to threaten the king by telling
him that the embargo must be lifted or force might be used by the
United States against Saudi Arabia. As the Saudi military was no
match for US forces, Kissinger expected the threat would alarm
King Faisal. The king’s response was telling: “We come from the
desert, and we have been living on camel milk and dates . . . and we
can easily go back and live in the desert again.” 1
Saudi Arabia was not intimidated, and it continued to navigate
oil markets through the crisis. King Faisal was later named Time
magazine’s Man of the Year for 1974.
At first glance, one might mistake the GCC states as a place
with little history. Drive through the major cities of the region and
you will find skyscrapers; new cars; state-of-the-art roads, infra-
structure, and shopping malls; the pervasive use of mobile phones;
and many other symbols of modernity. The running joke in Dubai

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