[quote=Fisheye]
Not exactly the Sahara or Arabian peninsula, but you should definitely go with Afghanistan. Their neighbor Pakistan was kind of just wiped from the map ten years ago with nuclear fire, so I'm sure they're experiencing some major aftereffects, and they're stuck in between two up-and-coming/regional powers (Iran and India). Add to that insurgent activity, political instability, and perhaps the misuse of foreign aid funds and you have yourself a good and proper shitty-but-not-entirely-helpless middleastern nation-state.Hell, you could even embark on operations in Once-Pakistan, if you want some broken cities and irradiated mountains under your wing.
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Pakistani refuges in afganistan very well could be a thing here.