The History of Kuwait - Assignment Example

The History of Kuwait Background of the country Kuwait is lies in the Persian Gulf and borders Saudi Arabia to the South and Iraq to the North, and has a population of approximately 2.7 million people (O’Shea and Spilling 2). The country has a geographical size of 17, 818 square kilometers and is entirely a desert. The Capital city is Kuwait City and the citizens are referred as the Kuwaitis. Kuwait was a British protectorate since 1899 after Mubarak granted Britain the foreign policy control and gained independence in June 19, 1961 (Casey 5). Al-Sabah family has ruled the country since 1756 (O’Shea and Spilling 4) The country is a constitutional monarchy, but has a parliamentary system of governance. The constitutional emirate is a hereditary position and the emir is the chief of state while the head of government is the Prime Minister and deputy prime ministers who both are appointed by the emir. The legislature consists of 66 seats with 50 states elected through popular vote while appointed cabinet ministers occupy the rest. The judiciary is based on Sharia law and is impendent from government influence (Casey 19). Most of the Kuwaitis are Arabs and Islam is the dominant religion of the country with majority being Sunni Muslims. Foreign groups include Iranians, South Asians, and expatriates and official language is Arabic, but English is also spoken (O’Shea and Spilling 45). The religious minorities include Parsi, Hindu and Christians and Native Kuwaitis do not pay any taxes. Foreign policy-making Kuwait’s foreign-policy making is based on quiet diplomacy, clarity and straightforwardness and aims at strengthening cooperation with other countries on the basis of non-intervention in the internal country affairs and mutual trust. Kuwait’s foreign policy is based on the ideals of sovereignty and freedom of political decision (O’Shea and Spilling 17). The Emir, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and government ministers occupy the executive branch and are key decision-makers. The chief of State is Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 2006) and Crown Prince is Nawafal – Ahmad. The decrees and pardons are executed by the Emir and has a lot of influence on the foreign policy decisions. The Emir is hereditary and is tasked with appointing the Prime Minister, and deputy prime ministers and approves the council of government ministers that is appointed by the Prime Minister (Casey 61). The parliament is a key decision-maker in foreign policy since it has the power to initiate legislation, remove the Emir and question actions of government ministers. The judiciary can also play a role in foreign policy making since the country is governed by Sharia Law that determines its relations with other countries (O’Shea and Spilling 102). Kuwait sought the help of United States and other coalition forces after it was invaded by Iraq in 1990 and since the liberation the foreign policy has remained directed towards cooperative security efforts and cordial diplomatic relations with Western allies. Kuwait has strained relations with nations such as Cuba, Yemen and Jordan due to their role in 1990 Iraq invasion (Casey 54). The foreign policy is also influenced by economic ties since the country is leading exporter of oil and gas especially the European and North America nations. Kuwait has no diplomatic ties with Israel and has a zero-tolerance policy towards economic ties with Israel due to the Gaza war. Kuwait is a member of the Arab league, Gulf Cooperation Council and the United Nations (1963) and aims at upholding the principles of peace, equality and justice among the nations of the world. Trading partners Kuwait is a high-income country, and has the fifth largest oil reserves in the world and depends mainly on the oil exports to fund its national budget. Kuwait is a relatively liberal economy compared with other countries in Middle East. The country has a GDP of approximately US $ 200. Billion and annual GDP growth rate of an average of 8 percent and low inflation rates of 2.5 percent (Casey 72). The country exports oil and related products such as fertilizers and main export partners include South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, India, United States, European Union, Singapore and Indonesia. The country imports cars, machinery, clothing, construction materials and food from countries such as United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea and United Arab Emirates (O’Shea and Spilling 108). The main economic sectors include oil industry, business services, manufacturing, financial sector, construction, transport and real estate sectors that contribute to high percentage of the gross domestic product. The leading industries include petroleum, petrochemicals, cement industry, desalination, food processing, shipbuilding and construction industry (Casey 92). Kuwait has a free-trade zone and has attracted high foreign direct investments due to its well developed financial services offered by the National bank of Kuwait. (Retrieved from: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/kuwait/balance-of-trade). International relations Kuwait has concluded and ratified several international treaties such as UN charter, Geneva Convention treaty, Abolition of forced labour convention, Biological weapons convention, Vienna convention for the protection of Ozone layer, the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights, Warsaw convention, and the Joint defense and economic co-operation treaty. From the numerous treaties ratified, it is evident that Kuwait actively participates in international affairs that aim at ensuring global peace and security, increased international trade and greater co-operation of nations in various sectors of the economy (Casey 210). Kuwait participates in international relations since it believes in global progress and international cooperation that is based on peace and security. Kuwait is committed to ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons by neighboring Iran and possible Persian gulf conflicts that can hindr economic progress and development. Kuwait was in favor of the unanimous UN resolution 514 that called for end of Iran-Iraq War in 1982 and subsequent related resolutions such as Resolution 598 and 612 and 620 that condemned the use of chemical weapons in the war. Kuwait supported Resolution 660 that condemned its invasion by Iraq and subsequent related resolutions that imposed economic sanctions on Iraq such as Resolution 661 and 686 (Casey 230). Kuwait advocated for Resolution 687 that set out that Iraq must destroy all chemical and biological weapons and declare its weapon programs for inspection in 1991. In order to end border tensions with Iraq, Kuwait acknowledged resolution 833 that clarified the Iraq-Kuwait border. Kuwait supported resolution 1483 of 2003 that recognized US and UK as occupying powers and legitimate authority over Iraq (O’Shea and Spilling 67). Kuwait ratified Vienna convention on the laws of treaties in 1975, but provided certain reservations since it claimed that such participation in the convention does not mean in any way recognising Israel and not such treaty will arise between Kuwait government and Israel. Kuwait has ratified the International convention on the suppression and punishment of the crime of Apartheid (1973). Kuwait abstained from voting for the UN Resolution 61/89 that aims at ensuring international standards for trade and transfer of conventional arms. In this case, Kuwait did not ratify the Arms trade treaty (ATT) that aims at ensuring that arms trade do not divert from the stated recipient, do not facilitate terrorism attacks and do not violate the humanitarian laws or commit acts of genocide. Kuwait is a member of key economic international organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization and has played a critical role in promoting free trade (O’Shea and Spilling 78). Works cited Casey, Michael. The history of Kuwait. Cheltenham: Ashgate. 2007. O’Shea, Maria and Spilling, Michael. Kuwait. New York: Routledge. 2010. Read More