Introduction The discovery of oil affected the Middle Eastern economy in mostly positive ways. However, these positive results created a domineering attitude in which Gulf countries sought to use their superior economic position to advance political agendas. This approach has yielded undesirable results in targeted and untargeted countries. Therefore, Middle Eastern countries should avoid the use of oil dollars to advance political goals and focus on economic aspects of production. Description of the problem The discovery of oil led to a great degree of economic prosperity in the Gulf region. Most of the world’s oil (about 65%) emanates from this region. Consequently, their nations have become very wealthy. They have traded with partners from around the world, including western nations. The wealth stemmed from the ease with which those nations could convert oil into foreign exchange. When prices of oil increased in world markets, countries such as Iran benefitted from the change owing to higher earnings for their exports. In the initial parts of oil discovery, most of these nations could use the earnings to develop their nations. The money they made was to be directed into economic infrastructure and well as the development of the social well being of its citizens. However, the problem with reliance on oil for economic development was the relative instability and speed with which the earnings entered these oil-rich nations. Gulf nations were under pressure to consume income from oil as soon as it arrived to minimize inflationary tendencies. They were also under pressure to deal with the fluctuating nature of the income after receiving it. As a result, they decided to circulate the oil around the international market through loans to oil-importing nations (Keiswetter 4). The provision of loans was just a small way of dealing with income from oil-production. Many Middle Eastern nations invested in the acquisition of arms and development of their military forms. This caused them to participate in several inter-regional conflicts. Additionally, the perverse arms purchases also exceeded their income levels and caused these nations to accumulate huge debts in the international arena. Locals in countries like Iraq and Iran suffered extreme poverty and lack. A country like Iraq would have been unable to amass as many war materials as it did if its leader – Saddam Hussein – had not misused oil revenue. The people of his nation suffered adversely from this issue. Another way in which Gulf nations have misused oil revenue is through increased government corruption as well as excessive waste. Most have initiated wasteful projects that their countries do not need. They have advanced elite members’ economic situation at the expense of the masses. Several Gulf countries have also tried to break autonomy from autonomous relationships, but this has caused them to engage in even greater dependency in oil blocks like OPEC. Egypt initially depended on the Soviet Union as a trading partner; however, the influx of oil has caused it to foster new relationships with Arab exporters. Likewise, Saudi Arabia has a strong relationship with the US that rested on military assistance within the Isra