The Making of the Gulf War: Origins of Kuwait's Long-Standing Territorial Dispute With Iraq [Hardcover]

H. Rahman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0863722075 | ISBN-13: 978-0863722073 | Publication Date: March 1998 | Edition: 1

Kuwait's long-standing territorial dispute with Iraq, culminating in the 1991 Gulf War, should properly be viewed within an extended historical context dating back to the Ottoman period. Tracing the origins of this dispute through a detailed chronological account of events, Dr Rahman describes how Anglo-Ottoman manoeuvres in the 1890s were to have repercussions on Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations for generations to come. He considers the effect of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent redefinition of many of the boundaries of the Empire's former provinces in the Middle East. Mesopotamia, now Iraq, became a kingdom under British mandate, and in 1932 it attained independence. The boundaries of Kuwait - already a British protected state - were defined in 1922-3, but as soon as the Emirate gained independence in 1961, Iraq tried to annex it under the misconception that Iraq, as the successor to the Ottoman Empire in Mesopotamia, had a claim on Kuwait. Studied within this historical context, and from a geopolitical perspective, it can be seen as something of an inevitability that Saddam Hussein of Iraq should want to fulfil a long-standing ambition to take Kuwait and become the unrivalled leader of the Arab world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'a useful book that places the territorial disputes between Kuwait and Iraq in a proper historical framework.' Middle East Journal 'This is a workmanlike account of Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations over the past hundred-odd years...Rahman's evident concern to leave no stone unturned is commendable' The International History Review 'expertly and comprehensively researched...for the first time, a detailed examination of the long-standing border dispute.' Asian Affairs

About the Author

Dr Rahman obtained his Ph.D. at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and was formerly Assistant Professor of History at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. He is now Senior Research Officer at the Research and Documents Division of Diwan Amiri, State of Qatar. His previous book, A British Defence Problem in the Middle East, 1946-7, was published by Ithaca Press in 1994.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 378 pages
• Publisher: Ithaca; 1 edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863722075
• ISBN-13: 978-0863722073
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,823,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Making of the Gulf War: Origins of Kuwaits Long-Standi, July 28, 2001

By 

Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Making of the Gulf War: Origins of Kuwait's Long-Standing Territorial Dispute With Iraq (Hardcover)

Rahman expertly fills a major scholarly gap by providing a detailed history of the Iraqi claim to Kuwait. He dates the origins of an autonomous Kuwait to 1752 and marshalls an impressive array of contemporary sources, mostly British, to show that the sheikhdom retained its autonomy throughout the next one and a half centuries, until in 1899 it signed an agreement with the British government that placed Kuwait effectively under British protection. This arrangement, it bears stressing, was initiated by the Kuwaitis themselves due to their fear of Ottoman expansionism southward from Iraq.

Hardly had Iraq become an independent state when its leaders began the campaign to annex Kuwait. The first declaration about Kuwait as a "non-separable part" of Iraq was published in Baghdad by a government daily on May 16, 1933. Rahman analyzes a campaign that sometimes sought a border rectification and at other times aspired to take over the whole of Kuwait, then shows how it continued, with ups and downs, over six decades, culminating with the invasion of August 2, 1990. The author convincingly concludes that the ugly boundary dispute behind that invasion "had its roots in the beginning of the twentieth century when the Ottoman Empire extended its power" southward toward Kuwait. Regrettably, Rahman does not draw conclusions from his historical study about the future, but his long tale of territorial ambition will leave most readers worried that Iraq's long-standing irredentism lives on, despite the many costs of defeat and deprivation.

Middle East Quarterly, June 1998