Kuwaiti foreign policy in light of the Iraqi invasion, with particular reference to Kuwait’s policy towards Iraq, 1990-2010

Abstract

The study sheds light on the impact of the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990 on Kuwaiti foreign policy, with particular reference to changes in behaviour towards Iraq, from 1990-2010, and the impact of this invasion on changes to the concepts of Kuwaiti foreign policy at regional, Arab and international levels. Thus, the study investigates the ‘impact’ of this invasion on Kuwaiti foreign behavior towards Iraq during the period from 1990 to 2010, the principles and determinants of Kuwaiti foreign policy towards Iraq in this period, and the ‘outstanding issues’ between Iraq and Kuwait and the Kuwaiti vision for Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime from 2003 until 2010. It finds that the trauma of the invasion drastically affected both Arab politics overall and Kuwait’s own policy: for the first time the notion of alliance became a cornerstone of Kuwait’s overall foreign policy – even if its geographical location and exposure to possible threats from Iraq meant that, after Saddam’s fall in 2003, there was a gradual evolution towards trying to help a stabilisation in that country occur. The combination of geographical location and ideational factors in the shape of sectarian cleavages crossing domestic and regional theatres, meant a continued sharp focus not only on military security with external help, but also on the pre-emption of spill-over effects from the sectarianised Iraqi political landscape to Kuwait’s own latent ethno-sectarian divisions. Even so, there were certain red lines that remained uncrossed, in the shape of the so-called outstanding issues that remained to be resolved between Iraq and Kuwait.