UNCOMFORTABLE OPTIONS

The threat of a spillover of the Iran Iraq war into the territories of the Gulf Co-operation Council countries is, insofar as the threat exists at all, closest to Kuwait in geographical terms, but nearer to Riyadh in a political sense. As the GCC's biggest component and the country which, if it came to it, would provide the largest military contribution, Saudi Arabia's reaction to regional events is the true bell-whether of the GCC.