Includes bibliographical references (p. [391]-401) and index.

Saudi Strategic Challenges -- Key Potential Threats -- The Challenge from Iran and Iraq -- The Military Threat from Iran -- Iran's Conventional Forces -- Iran's Amphibious Capabilities -- Iran's Focused Threat to Gulf Shipping -- Iran and Asymmetric Wars -- Iran and Weapons of Mass Destruction -- The Military Threat from Iraq -- The Iraqi Army and Key Security Elements -- The Deployment of Iraqi Army and Security Elements -- The Iraqi Air Force -- The Iraqi Navy -- Iraqi Operational Capabilities -- Iraq and the Problem of Sanctions and Equipment Modernization -- The Threat of Invasion -- The Problem of Kuwait -- Iraq's Capabilities in Other Contingencies -- Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Planning for a Full Range of Threats -- The Challenge from the Red Sea -- The Challenge from Israel, Jordan, and Syria -- The Challenge of Saudi and Egyptian Military Relations -- The Challenge from the United States and the West -- The Challenge from the GCC and the Gulf -- The Challenge of Proliferation -- Saudi Military Leadership, Organization, and Manpower -- The Leadership of Saudi Forces -- Organization and Leadership -- Management, Budgeting, and Leadership -- Military Manpower -- Manpower Pool and Manpower Problems -- Past Methods of Reducing Dependence on Foreign Military Manpower -- Current Manpower Quantity and Quality Problem -- Current and Future Saudi Military Manpower Levels -- Current Manpower Management Problems -- Reliance on Western Forces and Reinforcements -- Limits to Islamic and Arab Reinforcements -- Progress in Obtaining Support from the GCC -- Future Reliance on Foreign Manpower and Advisors -- Saudi Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers -- Saudi Military Expenditures -- Different Estimates of Saudi Military Expenditures and Their Burden on the Economy -- Estimating the Burden of Saudi Military Spending -- Export, Economic, and Demographic Impacts -- Finding the Proper Level of Expenditure -- Saudi Arms Imports -- The Volume of Saudi Arms Imports -- Patterns in Saudi Arms Imports, 1973-1990 -- The Impact of the Gulf War -- Comparisons of Saudi and Other Gulf Arms Buys -- Sources of Saudi Arms Imports -- The Changing Nature of Saudi Arms Imports -- Corruption, Waste, and Accountability -- Military Imports from the United States -- Creating a Balanced and Sustainable Flow of Arms -- Commissions and Special Fees -- The Saudi Army -- Saudi Combat Unit Strength and Deployments -- The Manpower Issue -- Saudi Army Force Expansion -- The Saudi Army Equipment Buildup and the Need for Improved Standardization and Interoperability -- Saudi Tanks -- The AMX-30 -- The M-60A3 -- The M-1A2 Upgrade Program -- Supporting the M-1A2 with Additional Armor and Equipment -- The Ongoing Search for Replacements for the AMX-30 -- The Problems in Buying Several Types of Main Battle Tank -- Limiting Main Battle Tank Buys and Numbers, as Well as Those of Other Army Equipment, and Relying on Force Effectiveness, Coalition Warfare, and the Air-Land Battle -- Saudi Other Armored Fighting Vehicles (OAFVs) -- Problems in Standardization and Modernization -- The Bradley M-2A2 -- Further Purchases and Force Expansion -- Saudi Anti-Tank Weapons -- Saudi Artillery -- Saudi Army Air Defense -- Saudi Army Aviation -- Saudi Sustainment, Infrastructure, and Support -- Saudi Army Readiness and War-Fighting Capabilities -- The Problem of Training -- Battle Management and Command and Control -- Strategic Focus -- The Saudi National Guard -- The Manning of the National Guard -- The Organization of the National Guard -- The Equipment of the National Guard -- The Guard's Support Capabilities -- The Training of the National Guard -- The Readiness and Effectiveness of the National Guard -- Tribal Forces (Fowj) -- Full-Time Forces -- Expansion Options -- Strategic Issues: The Role of the National Guard Relative to the Army -- The Saudi Navy -- Current Saudi Naval Forces -- Saudi Navy Combat and Auxiliary Ship Strength -- Saudi Marine Corps Strength -- Saudi Naval Aviation -- The Saudi Coast Guard -- Saudi Naval Development -- Badr-Class Corvettes and MSC-322 Coastal Mine Sweepers -- Sawari (Mast) I -- The Madina-Class Frigates -- The Sawari II Program -- Saudi Naval Infrastructure and C[superscript 4]I Capabilities -- Saudi Navy Force Expansion Plans -- Frigate Programs -- Project Mouette and the Overhaul and Modernization of F-2000S-Class Ships -- Other Modernization and Expansion Options -- Mine Warfare Programs -- Deferring Coastal Submarines -- Deferring Maritime Patrol Aircraft -- Saudi Naval Readiness and War-Fighting Capabilities -- The Saudi Air Force -- The Current Size and Capability of the Saudi Air Force -- Operational History and Force Development -- Shaping the Saudi Air Force: The "Peace Sun" Program -- The Saudi Tornado Buy and al-Yamamah Agreement -- The Tornado ADV -- Orders for the Tornado Strike-Attack Fighter, Hawk, and Helicopters -- Saudi Modernization After the Gulf War -- The Search for Offensive Airpower and the F-15S Buy -- More Tornadoes -- Looking Toward the Next Generation: The F-5EII Replacement Problem -- The Readiness and War-Fighting Capabilities of the Saudi Air Force -- The Lessons of the Gulf War -- Saudi Air Force F-15, F-5, Tornado, and E-3A Readiness -- The Saudi Air Force Enters the Twenty-First Century -- Saudi Air Force Capability for Effective Offensive and Joint Warfare -- Saudi Air Force Capability for Joint and Coalition Warfare -- The Saudi Air Defense Force -- The Current Strength of Saudi Land-Based Air Defense Forces -- Improving Saudi Air Defense Battle Management -- The Peace Pulse and Falcon Eye Programs -- The Peace Shield Program -- The Effectiveness of the Saudi Air Defense Force and Options for GCC and Southern Gulf Cooperation -- The Need for Integrated Air Defense at the National and Gulf Level -- Theater Missile Defense? -- The Problem of Readiness and U.S.-Saudi Tensions -- Saudi Paramilitary and Internal Security Forces -- The Saudi Failures That Helped Lead to September 11, 2001 -- The Role of the Ministry of the Interior -- The Police and Security Services -- The General Intelligence Directorate -- The Operations of the Saudi Security and Interlligence Services -- Changes in the General Intelligence Directorate -- Saudi Security Procedures -- Problems in Saudi Security Procedures -- Prison Conditions and Numbers of Detainees -- Dealing with Internal Opposition and Terrorism -- Saudi Treatment of Internal Extremist Movements -- Saudi Support of the Taliban and Islamic Extremists Outside Saudi Arabia -- Osama bin Laden as a Case Study -- Putting the Issue in Perspective -- Controlling the Flow of Saudi Funds -- Controlling the Activities of Young Saudis -- Saudi Shi'ites -- Non-Muslims -- Treatment of Foreign Workers -- Treatment of Iraqi Exiles and Prisoners of War -- Border and Coastal Security -- Security and the Role of the Judicial System -- The Operation of the Judicial System in Ordinary Civil Cases -- The Judicial System and Internal Security -- Saudi Enforcement of Islamic Justice -- The Mutawaa'in (Religious Police) -- Enforcement of Islamic Norms, Censorship, and Control of the Media -- Internal Security and Surveillance of Ordinary Citizens -- Internal Security and Control of the Media -- Looking Toward the Future -- Proliferation and Saudi Missile Capabilities -- Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Iraqi Missile Developments and Possible Capabilities -- Recent Iraqi CBRN Developments and Possible Capabilities -- A Current War-Fighting Capability "Guesstimate" -- Future Risks and Breakout Problems -- Iran and Weapons of Mass Destruction -- The CSS-2 -- What Comes Next? Missiles, Missile Defenses, Civil Defense, Counterproliferation, Counterterrorism, and Deterrence -- Iraq's Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Iran's Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Saudi Arabian Security at the Start of the Twenty-First Century -- Saudi Military Development -- Force Transformation and Mission-Oriented Procurement Priorities -- Eliminating the Glitter Factor -- Realistic Limits on Military Spending and Arms Purchases -- Reducing Future Waste -- Reshaping Defense Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Transparency -- Cooperation with Other Southern Gulf States -- The Need for Real-World Progress in Cooperation with Kuwait, Bahrain, and the GCC -- Priorities for Action -- Changing Saudi Arabia's Military Relations with the United States and the West -- The Need for New Forms of U.S. and Saudi Cooperation -- Islamic Extremism and Terrorism -- Arms Sales and Security Assistance.

Analyses the major political and economic changes that confront Saudi Arabia and assesses their impact on regional stability.