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What used to be a desolate wasteland became one of the wealthiest nations on the planet with the discovery of oil. The United States played an important role in this development. However, until the 1930s it seemed that this role was reserved for the Netherlands. Dutchmen were in high demand as advisors to the king and founded Saudi Arabia's first bank. The Netherlands was also the largest supplier of muslim pilgrims to Mecca. When the Saudi king ran out of cash, he approached the Netherlands Trading Society and suggested they should dig for oil. The Dutch were willing to do so - but only if king Saud gave them money first. He refused and went to American Standard Oil instead. And the rest is history. So what if the Netherlands decided to take a risk on the basis of "no cure, no pay" and they were the ones who found oil instead of the Americans?