KUWAIT - The Challenge Of Globalisation - Part 8.

The experience of invasion, occupation and liberation has changed Kuwait into a state unlike any of the other Gulf monarchies. Some of the changes were internally driven, such as a more unconventional socio-economic and geo-political outlook, while others have been externally driven like the democratisation of politics. The invasion and liberation, which coincided with the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, primed Kuwait for the challenges of globalisation that was to follow in the 1990s.

After liberation, the emirate was more prepared to make the changes that would ensure its survival in the years to come. In fact, the expulsion of Iraqi forces by a coalition of Western and Islamic forces led by the US provided the background for liberalising political, economic and social trends that began to have an impact on the country soon thereafter. These trends continue to play upon Kuwaiti society, although all the surface indicators of the seven-month Iraqi occupation have been removed except for the war monuments.

The first parliamentary elections after the invasion were held in October 1992, after strong urging from the US, especially from the outspoken American ambassador in Kuwait at the time, Edward Gnehm. Since then, the parliamentary system in the emirate has evolved into one of the most vocal and politically active in the Arab World. Economic liberalisation has also been pursued, again both internally driven and as a result of external pressure. Kuwait became a member of the World Trade Organisation in January 1995.

Where issues related to globalisation are concerned, Kuwait is in a unique position. Due to its vast oil wealth, its tiny population of nationals and its US-guaranteed security, the emirate has in fact little reason to liberalise its political or economic system in a radical way. It can sustain its current socio-economic situation for the foreseeable future, with limited adjustments in economic and foreign policies to accommodate oil price fluctuations and regional geo-politics. Indeed, the regime has been taking just such an approach - which is aimed at keeping local society stable, while satisfying those who want more democracy (like the US) with small progressive steps and not alarming those who fear the spillover effects of political liberalisation (like Saudi Arabia).

This reflects the fact that heavier level of pressure for political change in the emirate after liberation did not come from within Kuwaiti society, although it has a politically active group of citizens demanding the restoration of parliament. It came from Kuwait's Western allies - i.e. the countries that saved the emirate from Saddam Hussein and that continue to protect it from the Baathist regime in Baghdad. These countries wanted to see the emirate open up its economy in a way that maximised the benefits for their companies, which wanted to have a greater controlling influence on everything from Kuwait's oil sector to its defence procurements.

The ruling Al Sabah family therefore made the sacrifices necessary, in terms of liberalising the political system and the economy, to keep its Western allies happy. In the early 1990s, caught up in the euphoria of the Gulf War victory, the West also wanted to see Kuwait emerge as a democratic model for the rest of the GCC. The US in particular strongly advocated political liberalisation in the emirate.

However, things have changed somewhat since then, with the emergence of radical Islam as a destabilising factor, the gradual collapse of the peace process in the second half of the 1990s, and the current chaotic situation in the Middle East with regard to both the Arab-Israeli confrontation and the Iraq problem. By the late 1990s, observers began pointing out that the US had "undeclared limits" in terms of how far it would like to see the emirate's political system liberalised. It would not, for instance, desire a dilution of Al Sabah family control if that meant that the Islamist groupings in the National Assembly (parliament) would gain a greater degree of decision making power.