Credit must be given where credit is due: statesmen in the Gulf have a sense of long-term strategy. Fully aware that the oil blessing would one day tap out, all the Gulf States have long been preparing the future and equipping their countries with all components of modern states, including capacity for self-defense. HE Dr. Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, who heads the Qatari Defense ministry, is currently getting the emirate’s armed forces shipshape, with state-of-the-art equipment and top-of-the-line training.