While we just don't know what the M.E. would look like with Saddam still there,We can conjecture: in 1988 Saddam finished the 8 year war with Iran, having killed a large chunk of the fanatical Shias
In this he was sponsored by Saudia and the Gulf states (including Kuwait) who used him as a proxy against Shia Iran which they feared and fear (just as they use Egypt against Israel)
In 1990 he decided that they didn't give him enough money and that Kuwait was filching extra oil from the shared oil reserves (which, if I'm not mistaken, they WERE doing) and took over
We went in and the Saudi king was correct when he said "I just snap my hands and my blue-eyed slaves will come and fight and die for me" and my money
If we hadn't, then this is the scenario:
- Saddam controls Kuwait and huge oil reserves,
- he threatens the Saudis who use their money for their own defence rather than for sponsoring terrorism across the world
- he restarts the war with Iran, possibly defeating them and slaughtering many (he called "persians are like flies") and knocks the ayatollah's out of power. The remnant of Iran would be secular
- Al Qaeda and other Sunni sponsored terrorist groups are focused on Iraq to knock out the secular dictator who they hated, so no time to focus on America or India or Israel or Europe
- the Christians in Iraq are cowed (as they have been for 1400 years) but surviving and thriving unlike now when 90% have been chased out of Iraq)
- Israel is threatened, but this time by a concrete enemy
- The Syrians are against Iraq and form an Arab 'containment', but they can't defeat Iraq, so there is an uneasy stand-off and the Syrians dont' focus on Israel so much
- Hizbullah in Lebanon, a Shia organization, rails against Saddam's persecution of Shias in Iraq and Iran
- Hamas in Gaza rails against SAddam's cowing of the "holy land" of Saudia
- The Pakis don't get billion$ of weapons etc from us and become a third-rate power unable to produce their nukes or support the Talibs adequately to take over Afghanistan
- 9/11 never happens...
- we save trillion$ by not fighting in Iraq gulf war I and II or afghanistan and we dont' go into recession
- thousands of American servicemen are still alive
All in all, a much better world for America and Europe, about the same level of danger for Israel.
Note -- in some ways Dubya was just following a nearly inevitable path after Gulf War I...