The diplomat who said 'No' to Saudi oil
bbc.com
bbc.com
When we wonder why the Arab world is filling with hatred it's because this has been 'the game' for the last 85 years. The West props up and enriches an elite in return for them keeping the oil flowing and the population subdued. But they'd better maintain and spend that money in London and New York. Ideally re-investing it in our football clubs, supermarkets, and overboiling real-estate markets.
China took responsibility for itself and built itself into a superpower, despite suffering more colonial aggression in the 19th century than the Middle East.
I don't agree that China's power has anything to do with development or 'responsibility': Saudi Arabia's economy produces around 4 times as much per person as China's, but due to population size China's economy is over 10 times the size of S.A.'s. That's why China is (becoming) a great power, and S.A. is not. We could say the same about South Korea, Taiwan, and many, many other countries who are wealthier per capita than China but lack their global influence.
China's 'responsible' leaders killed tens of millions of their own citizens, probably the most murderous and disastrous regime in the history of the world. After they burnt down their own house, plowed under the ashes and salted the earth, since ~1979 they've done a decent job economically for many Chinese, and especially for the leaders themselves.
It's a very difficult job and often (usually) the largest influences are not policy analysis or an individual's judgment, but domestic politics in the participating countries. Consider, for example, issues such as climate change and Iran's nuclear program, solutions to both of which are greatly restricted by one political party in the U.S.