Editing Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia (section)

==History==
The first steps towards building an institutionalised armed force for Saudi Arabia began in the 1940s, when Saudi regulars numbered perhaps 1,000–1,500, Gaub saying that officers mostly came from the Ottoman troops who had served the [[Sharif of Mecca]] before he was expelled in 1924.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gaub|first=Florence|title=Guardians of the Arab State: When militaries intervene in politics, from Iraq to Mauritania|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|page=156|isbn= 9781849046480}}</ref> A [[Ministry of Defense (Saudi Arabia)|Ministry of Defense]] was created in 1943; a military school founded in [[Taif]], and the United Kingdom began efforts to try to build a professional force. After the failure of this UK programme, a subsequent U.S. programme which ran from 1951 also failed to reach its objective (the creation for three to five [[Regimental Combat Team]]s). Growth of the armed forces was slowed to some 7,500–10,000 by 1953. Continued enlargement came to a halt in the late 1950s due to internal Saudi power struggles (including two plots by senior officers) and geo-political concerns, namely the [[Free Officers Movement (Egypt)|Free Officers]] [[Egyptian revolution of 1952|Revolution in Egypt]] followed by a [[14 July Revolution|brutal Baathist coup]] in Iraq, wherein expanded post-colonial Arab armies overthrew the domestic monarchies they had sworn allegiance to in 1952 and 1958, respectively. These events led the Saudis to the  conclusion that the military could pose a greater threat than their neighbors. In the decades that followed, though the Kingdom experienced  economic expansion and modernization; the Royal Armed Forces remained small. From the late 1950s to the late 1970s, the Saudis  expanded and modernized their military but at a slow pace. In 1969, South Yemeni [[Al-Wadiah War|forces attacked]] the Kingdom along the border but were swiftly defeated by Royal and allied forces. When the [[Yom Kippur War|Yom-Kippur War]] broke out in 1973, Saudi Arabia used "[[1973 oil crisis|Oil as a weapon]]", to aid the Arab cause;<ref>Smith, Charles D. (2006), Palestine and the Arab–Israeli Conflict, New York: Bedford, p. 329.</ref> this strategy significantly influenced world opinion against Israel though to what extent is remains unclear.<ref>Myre, Greg. “The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo: The Old Rules No Longer Apply“ (October 16, 2013). ''National Public Radio''. www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/10/15/234771573/the-1973-arab-oil-embargo-the-old-rules-no-longer-apply Retrieved January 20, 2021.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-ir.info/2014/12/28/was-the-oil-weapon-effective-in-achieving-the-arab-states-goals-in-1973-74/|title = Was the 'Oil Weapon' Effective in Achieving the Arab States' Goals in 1973–74?|date = 28 December 2014}}</ref><ref>Daoudi, M. S.; Dajani, M. S. (January 1984). "The 1967 Oil Embargo Revisited". Journal of Palestine Studies. 13 (#2): 65–90. doi:10.2307/2536897. ISSN 0377-919X. JSTOR 2536897.</ref> Following these successes, the Saudis would pursue only limited increased support for their armed forces in the wake of the [[Grand Mosque Seizure]] in 1979. In the 1980s Saudi Arabia became a major source of financial but not military assistance, for the [[Mujahideen]] [[Soviet–Afghan War|in Afghanistan]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/1661431. |title="The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan". ''Arab News'' (April 19, 2020). Retrieved 20 January 2021. |access-date=18 May 2021 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405164729/https://www.arabnews.com/node/1661431. |url-status=live }}</ref> and the regime of [[Saddam Hussein]] in its [[Iran–Iraq War|war against]] [[Iranian Revolution|Revolutionary Iran]].<ref>"Annex D: Iraq Economic Data (1989–2003)". Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI [Director of Central Intelligence] on Iraq's WMD. 1 of 3. Central Intelligence Agency. 27 April 2007</ref><ref>Pike, John (ed.). "Iraq debt: Non-Paris Club Creditors". Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2021.</ref> The [[Gulf War|1991 Gulf War]] saw the greatest threat to the Kingdom in modern history and the largest deployment of Saudi Armed Forces in history, with all levels of the Saudi military actively participating as part of the [[Coalition of the Gulf War|U.N. coalition against Iraq]].

In 1987, members of the air force, army, and navy used to be mainly recruits from groups of people without a strong identity from the [[Nejd]] tribal system and people from urban areas.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mackey|author-link=Sandra Mackey|first=Sandra|title=The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom|page=207|publisher=W.W. Norton|year=2002|isbn=9780393324174}}</ref>

[[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia|King Abdullah]] increasingly moved towards comprehensive military reform following what he considered a failed response by Saudi forces to [[Operation Scorched Earth|Houthi incursions in 2009]].<ref>Abeer Allam (21 April 2013). "Saudi king sacks deputy defence minister". Financial Times. Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 20 January 2021.</ref>

In the early 2010s, after almost 20 years of relatively modest increases in military spending, the Saudi government embarked an unprecedented expansion of the Kingdom's armed forces.<ref>"Data for all countries from 1988–2018 in constant (2017) USD (pdf)" (PDF). SIPRI. Retrieved 20 January 2021.</ref><ref>Tian, Nan; Fleurant, Aude; Kuimova, Alexandra; Wezeman, Pieter D.; Wezeman, Siemon T. (27 April 2020). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 20 January 2021.</ref> This shift in policy was spear-headed primarily by [[Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia|Crown Prince]] [[Mohammed bin Salman]], who took over as Defense Minister in 2015.<ref>"Saudi King Abdullah passes away". ''Al Arabiya'', (23 January 2015). Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2021.</ref> It is believed the continued high level expansion of the Saudi Armed Forces was a response to not only short term threats (including incursions by Yemeni rebels and the rise of ISIS) but long term regional strategic concerns, namely the increasing strength of Iran and the uncertain future of America's role in the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-01/saudi-military-gets-the-mbs-treatment |title=Saudi Prince's Big Military Revamp Means Billions to Business |first=Glen |last=Carey |date=1 March 2018 |publisher=Bloomberg |access-date=2022-04-05}}</ref>

In 2019, the government of Saudi Arabia stated that women can start working in the military. In the past they could only work in police.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://m.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/saudi-women-can-now-join-the-armed-forces|title=Saudi women can now join the armed forces|work=Khaleej Times|date=3 October 2019|access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref>