Lifeofthemind said:
“They assumed that all the Arabs would do with the money was blow it on shiny toys, prostitutes and boozy weekends in London. The money was used instead to buy capital assets, including media and technology companies, academics, politicians and bureaucrats.”

Where we really outfoxed ourselves was failing to anticipate Middle Eastern politicians using religious demagoguery to maintain their grip on power. I think there was this implicit assumption that the Arabs and Persians would jettison their medieval superstitions after they achieved some measure of prosperity. Instead we’ll soon have the situation of crazed religious fanatics being armed with modern ballistic missiles and thermonuclear weapons.