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It's no secret that the Middle East is a dangerous neighborhood. And if the bushels of money that rulers of the Gulf states are throwing at their militaries is any indication, it's not getting any safer.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies report Military Balance 2010, Saudi Arabia's defense budget grew from $24.9 billion in 2001 to $41.2 billion in 2009, a 65 percent increase. The budget of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) grew a whopping 700 percent, from $1.9 billion to $15.47 billion, in the same time period. Kuwait and Bahrain also dramatically expanded the dollars devoted to security over the last decade; their defense budgets increased 35 percent and 80 percent, respectively.

So why the stockpiling? Well, you'd be spending on defense too if you lived next door to Iran. As Iran makes advances in ballistic missile technology, the Gulf states have invested heavily in missile defense systems. In September 2008, the UAE announced the purchase of the THAAD missile defense system for $7 billion, becoming the first foreign country to take delivery of the U.S.-built system. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin also received a contra... >>>