ocr: Saudi Arabia's strategic importance is derived entirely from its oil reserves and worldwide investments. The Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia is among the top ten trading partners ofnearly every industrialized country in the world. Relations with the USA are particularly close. Although foreign reserves have fallen because ofthe cost ofliberating Kuwait in 1991,the Saudis remain important institutional investors with signiticant amounts investedin the West. The Saudi reaction to Iraq's invasion ofKuwait in 1990 demonstrated the Sa'uds' determination to maintain the current "status quo" in the Middle Eas ...
