While nobody knows for sure how much the Saudis have spent on getting a foothold in non-Muslim regions and especiallyinWesternEurope and North America, the sums are clearly huge.
Environmental groups have played a key role in subsequently organising and professionalising grassroots activists, especiallyin North America and WesternEurope.
As U.S. attention waned, there was a feeling in Washington that a military presence needed to be established to discourage the Soviet Union from meddling inEurope, especiallyin the western part of the continent.