Kuwait: The Transformation of an Oil State

This scholarly overview covers Kuwait's transformation from a poor British protectorate to an oil-wealthy independent state, untangling along the way the complicated Kuwaiti-Iraqi relationship. Crystal ( Oil and Politics in the Gulf ) contends that the recent Gulf crisis began not in August but in July 1990, when Saddam Hussein complained to the Arab League that Kuwait, besides producing too much oil, was siphoning from Iraq's side of the Rumailah oil field. She describes the effects of the Iraqi invasion and occupation on Kuwait's economy, society and politics, then analyzes the government's postwar goals, which include reducing the country's longtime dependence on foreign labor (non-Kuwaitis constitute more than 80% of the work force). The immediate impact of the Gulf war on Kuwait, the author avers, was to sharpen the conflicting impulses toward democratic reforms and authoritarian repression. This is an important addition to the literature of the Persian Gulf war. Illustrations. (July)