Word: riyadh
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...Saudis of foreign intrusion that they have embarked on a substantial military buildup. Growing concerns about the safety of its oil fields have led the kingdom to boost defense outlays every year since the Iran-Iraq war started in 1980. Allocations for defense and internal security are now Riyadh's largest single expenditure. They totaled $17.7 billion last year and represented nearly a third of all government spending...
Most Saudis owe their prosperity to the vast amounts of money the government has poured into development projects over the past decade. While some of these, like the $3.4 billion international airport at the capital city of Riyadh, are attractive and useful, others seem destined for white elephanthood. One 1,800-acre complex dubbed the "diplomatic quarter" features a lavish sports club complete with a wave machine that creates surf in a vast swimming pool. Though the club is intended to house 7,000 diplomats and their families, skeptics question whether it will attract a third that number...
...government has found many ways to spend money. To ensure ample supplies < of grain, Riyadh has paid growers six times the world price for their output. But since the kingdom consumes only about half the nearly 2 million tons that farmers produce annually, Saudi Arabia has a grain glut. Efforts to raise livestock have been troubled. The Saudi Arabian Agriculture and Dairy Co., which opened in 1980, managed to breed 15,000 cows over the following five years. But the $100 million total cost was so great that the firm had to refinance its debts...
...opposition and approved the purchase of five surveillance aircraft equipped with Airborne Warning and Control Systems. The first of them is scheduled to arrive this June. Congress blocked an order for an additional 48 F-15s last year, forcing the Saudis to turn to British and European jets. Now Riyadh views its missile request as a litmus test of American support...
While some segments of the middle class chafe under their restrictions, the kingdom's religious leaders constantly call for closer adherence to puritanical Islamic rules. Many of their strictures are directed at women. One recent decree banned them from riding alone in taxis or hotel limousines. In Riyadh and Jidda, black-robed women must board buses through the back door and sit separately from men. In some parts of the kingdom, a husband can divorce a wife simply by repeating "I divorce thee" three times...