Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

How Kuwait is Surviving the Gulf Crisis

Next week, on August 2, is the 27th anniversary of the day Saddam’s forces stormed across Iraq’s southern border with the goal of annexing their small neighbor, Kuwait. It took only two days to seize the entire country. During the seven-month occupation, Iraqi soldiers tortured and killed hundreds of civilians, and took thousands hostage. The country was pillaged. When the Iraqis were forced to retreat by the U.S.-led international coalition, they set fire to 700 Kuwaiti oil wells, leaving a path of vast economic and environmental destruction.

The Iraqi invasion and occupation of 1990-1991 remains a core component of the Kuwaiti national consciousness. More than any other event in the country’s modern history, the experience exposed the enormous vulnerability of being a small, resource-rich state surrounded by much larger, more powerful neighbors in a volatile region. It has shaped the way Kuwait’s ruling al-Sabah family, other political elites, and the general public think about regional security. This historical experience frames Kuwait’s approach to the current Gulf crisis that pits three Gulf states—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain—plus Egypt, against a small, fourth Gulf state, Qatar.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

How Trump Can Be the Winning President in Ukraine

“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special [...] More

Report for Friday, July 11, 2025

8:40 America/New York Friday, July 11 [...] More

Dead Drop: July 11

IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION: (Yet) another Russian leader who falls out with Putin, has a really bad week; Reports emerge about Iran's low-budget [...] More

As Nukes Spread, Robust Missile Defenses Must Rise

OPINION — More countries aspire to be nuclear-weapons states, and we should prepare for this eventuality. That’s why the Golden Dome missile defense [...] More

Mission CIA: Mapping Beijing’s Path to War

Mission CIA: Mapping Beijing’s Path to War

Taiwan has launched its largest annual military exercise ever - amid growing concern that China is on the cusp of launching a military invasion. Many [...] More

Report for Thursday, July 10, 2025

8:40 America/New York Thursday, July 10 [...] More

Rekindling Memories of the Fuji Fire

Rekindling Memories of the Fuji Fire

In October1979, the most powerful cyclone in recorded history, raced across the Pacific and set in motion circumstances that caused a horrendous fire [...] More

Doing Battle in the Gray Zone

Doing Battle in the Gray Zone

Subscriber+Members are invited to join us on Wednesday, July 23 at 1:00p ET for an exclusive virtual conversation on gray zone operations led by [...] More

Report for Wednesday, July 9, 2025

9:12 America/New Wednesday, July 9 [...] More