You may have to register before you can download all our books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Since the discovery of the worlds third largest oil reserves within its borders, Kuwait has achieved international political prominence far exceeding its physical size. The country had already played a role in history before, however. Local sources take that history back to the beginning of the nineteenth century. The present book takes the history of Kuwait still further back using European sources. It includes analyses and comparisons of indications on maps from the sixteenth century onwards and of references to the Kuwait area in documents produced by officials of the Dutch East India Company-the principal Western political and economic power in the Gulf during most of early modern times-, in British documents and in early travel accounts. The book is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the political position of Kuwait in history vis-a-vis its neighbours, especially the Ottoman authorities in Basra.
Although small geographically, Kuwait casts a disproportionately large shadow in the areas of international finance, energy, and trade. It enjoys a capital-surplus economy, but is still a developing country and one of the fastest growing markets for goods and services. Kuwait's drive toward economic development and self-sustaining investment both at home and abroad arises from the knowledge that the nation's prosperity derives overwhelmingly from a single, nonrenewable asset—petroleum. Professor El Mallakh delineates Kuwait's economic activities and potential and assesses the country's impact on the global economy. Basing his work on two decades of research and writing on Kuwait and neighboring Gulf states, and on interviews with Kuwaiti officials and financial and business leaders, he presents a wealth of detailed and practical information, little of which is readily accessible elsewhere. He also analyzes the use of Kuwait's capital-surplus funds with reference to the region, to Europe, and to the United States, and looks at the country's priorities for future international investment and development projects.
Kuwait, unlike most of its neighbours, has a well-established national identity and a long history as a nation, dating back to the eighteenth century. In this book, first published in 1992, Dr. Jill Crystal focuses on two recurring themes in Kuwaiti history: one, the preservation of a sense of community in the face of radical economic, social and political transformations; the second, internal rivalry over the conventions governing relations among members of the community. Crystal skilfully weaves these themes into a broad profile of Kuwait, analysing the nation’s transformation from a pre-oil to an oil economy; its social structure and composition, including the country’s tribal roots and key divisions involving class, gender and immigrant labour; political tensions resulting from the nation’s sudden wealth and the accompanying changes in social structure; and its relations with other countries in the Gulf and the Middle East.
The research, field work and writing for this study have taken over two years. The book was originally written as a Ph.D. dissertation under the supervision of Professor James Bill of the University of Texas (at Austin). I am grateful to him for his careful and considerate attention to the manuscript at its several stages. I wish to thank Professor Henry Dietz, Robert Femea, Lawrence Graham, and Robert Hardgrave, who provided important suggestions for the writing of this study. Four more individuals deserve particular mention for their contribution to the writing of the book. Dr. Barbara Harlow who took time to read the entire manuscript and Dr. Michael Fischer who read part. I thank both of them for the valuable suggestions provided to me. I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Ghassan Salame of the American University of Beirut whose support encouraged me to turn my Ph.D. dissertation into a book. Finally, I would like to thank Barbara Ellington, senior acquisition editor of W estview Press, for her support
This volume of documents relates to the legal aspects of the international crisis arising out of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1996.
Kuwait gained its official political independence from Britain in 1961. Now an independent modern state, it has been ruled by the Al Sabah family since the mid-18th century. Centring on the Kuwaiti state's functional role in the process of political legitimation in an oil-rentier economy, this book is a study of how the state performs roles aimed to distribute substantial welfare and economic benefits to different segments of Kuwaiti society, and how these benefits enable the Al Sabah regime to win the compliance, acceptance and support of the Kuwaiti people.
This book assesses the dynamics of Kuwaiti foreign policy since 1961 and explores the role of Kuwait as a small state in international politics. It analyzes the impact of ideology, religion, and value systems on Kuwaiti foreign policy as well as the impact of domestic forces on political actors.
During the 1991 Gulf War, pundits and experts scrambled unsuccessfully to explain Iraq's "claim" to Kuwait. In a lucid and measured account of a complex historical and geographic drama that culminated in Operation Desert Storm, David Finnie elucidates the long Kuwaiti-Iraqi border dispute and lays Saddam Hussein's dubious claim to rest. He also raises larger questions about European colonialism and about the creation of new nation-states in the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Finnie vividly portrays how arbitrary the drawing of frontiers can be, and how they come to serve internal, regional, and international rivalries and ambitions. This history begins in the eighteen...
This is a portrait of Kuwait and its people, bringing together the Western view and the Kuwaitis' view of themselves. Kuwait is the first oil-city state. In 30 years, the desert kingdom has grown from a backward and impoverished society into a radical and progressive state. Kuwait has retained its neutrality despite the presence of neighbours such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. It has used its new-found wealth to achieve a social transformation and a programme of investment in its future. Peter Mansfield has been visiting Kuwait for 30 years and observing its transformation - the creation of its health service, its emergence as a financial centre and its efforts towards a parliamentary democracy. His study shows how Kuwait has brought itself and its institutions into the 20th century while preserving its traditional Islamic traditions. 1961 to 1967. His books include Nasser's Egypt, The Arabs and The New Arabians
This book, first published in 1972, describes a Kuwait normally hidden to the eyes of visitors. The author draws upon a vast experience of the country, from both before and after the discovery of oil, and analyses the changes to the physical appearance of the city as well as the changes to the customs and outlook of its people.