To be fair, there is something more in the picture. UAE for instance is much more cosmopolitan, but has failed to be a research hub, in contrast to rich city states like Singapore. Iran, their neighbour, produces some very smart people however - who then inevitably move out, considering the flavour regime in that country.

You’re wary of moving to a desert special economic zone if you are unsure or suspicious of it

You’re weary of it if you have moved to many such zones already and you are a bit sick of it

Are these city states research hubs? Hong Kong or Liechtenstein perhaps.

By one order of magnitude these days, the Norwegian fund's market value was less than $100b in 2004 though.

Someone whose core business is losing money is trying to recoup them in an area that they have no clue about.

This is a typical guy who feels pressure so he buys at the top and puts his money based on recommendation of others in a business that is going to be next big thing. A typical sucker in other words who will end up penniless.

Poor Saudis.

They should invest in nanotechnology, and make the world’s smallest violin.

What, oil? Go look up the average barrel cost for Saudi oil (hint: it's less than 2 lattes). Demand needs to drop to essentially zero before renewables are competitive with their oil. They are not losing money.

Well that is how the current VC market works - sadly

Yeah but it's not like the variables at work before are the same at work today. With the current set of variables, even LESS likely than ever than what you call the "current civilization" would collapse completely, because it's massively decentralized in terms of knowledge.

Not precisely an extinction, but still not a lot of hope.