Seeker Blog

An interesting Strategy Page dispatch — what has been the impact on Kuwait?

March 26, 2007: One of the unequivocal winners in Iraq is, Kuwait. As long as Saddam controlled Iraq, Kuwait faced the threat of Iraqi invasion. Even before Kuwait became independent (in 1961, of British protection, which it had sought over the last few centuries), the newly formed (in the 1920s) country of Iraq insisted that Kuwait was simply a province of Iraq.

For thousands of years, who “owned” what is now Kuwait, was never an issue. There was no there there. Kuwait bay, however, provided a good anchorage at the head of the Persian Gulf, and Indians and Arabs established a trading post. Arab fishermen also developed a good business diving for pearl bearing oysters. Still, the Ottoman Turks never bothered to occupy the place, believing it not worth the effort. But once oil was discovered in the 1930s, Kuwait became a valuable place indeed. Saudi Arabia also had a claim, but never pushed the issue, because the ruling family of Saudi Arabia (the Sauds) had been assisted in their conquest of Arabia by the Kuwaitis. So, in a manner of speaking, the Saudis owned the Kuwaitis. Debts like this mean something in the Middle East.

But with Saddam gone, and the Sunni Arabs no longer controlling Iraq, Kuwait is much less likely to be threatened by Iraq. Partly that’s because Kuwait was seen as an enemy of Saddam, and supporter of anti-Saddam Iraqis. Moreover, a third of Kuwaitis are Shia. The Sunni majority has learned to get along with the Shia, and the Shia majority in Iraq respects that. Thus, while many Iraqis still believe that Kuwait should belong to it, the presence of American troops in Kuwait (even after U.S. forces leave Iraq), makes it unlikely that Iraq would make another grab for Kuwait.

Read on…