The Army of One

There used to be an advertising slogan used by the US Army which was "the army of one".  It never made much sense to me, because the American armed forces are one of the most cooperative ventures in the world; they foster teamwork, not individualism.  There finally is today, however, an "army of one" which is functioning quite well in the world.  The "one" this time is the kind of Saudi Arabia.  By making the decision that Saudi oil output would not be cut to prop up prices on the world oil markets, the Saudi king has done more to shift world power than a much larger army could have accomplished.  Think about it.  The Iranian mullahs are going under quickly as their oil revenues disappear.  Iran no longer has the cash needed to fund Assad in Syria, to build nuclear weapons, to rearm Hezbollah, and to do all those other things that the Saudis dislike.  Putin in Russia is also watching the economic foundation of the Russian state crumble.  Putin also is being deprived of the ability to support Assad.  The Russians are also being squeezed out of further invasions of Ukraine.  (This last result is not one that the Saudis care about, but it is still a big deal nevertheless.)  The Saudis are also reducing future competition by making oil prices less stable and investment more risky, but that is just a side benefit.  It's really not bad for the army of one.