Kuwait Celebrates Historic Anniversaries

Kuwait, once the epitome of progress and development, a pioneer in the cultural renaissance of the Arab world, is today only a shadow of the promises and potential it displayed at the time of its independence in 1961.

For over six decades, before attaining independence, Kuwait remained a protectorate of the British Empire. In 1961, following discussions between Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, and the British Political Resident in the Arabian Gulf, it was mutually agreed to abrogate the protectorate status and grant Kuwait full independence on 19 July 1961.

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sabah became Kuwait’s first Amir and under his sagacious leadership the country developed on all fronts. Following independence, Kuwait formally applied for membership in the United Nations and on 14 May, 1963 the United Nations General Assembly welcomed Kuwait as the global organization’s 111th Member State.

In the wake of its new found global recognition, Kuwait became an important player in the international family of nations, leveraging its immense surplus oil wealth to become a major foreign-aid donor. The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, which was founded in 1961, became an active supporter and enabler of development projects throughout the Arab world and beyond.

A few months after independence, Sheikh Abdullah also formed a popular committee to draft a modern constitution for the newly independent nation. A draft constitution was approved on 11 November, 1961, outlining Kuwait’s system of governance as a ‘fully independent Arab State with a democratic style of government, where sovereignty rests with the nation, which is the source of power’. Under the constitution, a constituent assembly was formed in 1962 and a year later the first parliamentary elections were held. Kuwait thus became the first Arab country in the region to have a constitution, an elected parliament, and a democratic style of governance.

From the early 1960s to well into the 70s, Kuwait was the most developed country and the largest oil exporter in the region. It was the first nation in the Middle East to diversify its new found oil wealth by establishing the world’s first sovereign wealth fund through the Kuwait Investment Authority. Kuwait University, established in 1966, was a beacon of academic excellence that drew students from all across the Arab world. On the cultural front, theater, art and literature flourished and the media was described as one of the most outspoken, expressing and promoting ideas and ideologies that were until then taboo in much of the region. Liberal ideas and Western attitudes and lifestyle were conspicuously visible in society.

It is to the credit of Kuwait’s first Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah and the founding fathers of the nation who crafted a versatile constitution for the country in its early years that Kuwait continued to remain an independent, democratic country committed to the principles enshrined in its constitution. It was also in honor of Sheikh Abdullah’s role in establishing the country’s independence and in laying the foundation for a strong democratic and constitutional nation that remains crucial in the evolution and progress of modern Kuwait to this day, that in 1965 Kuwait decided to shift its National Day to 25 February, the day of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem’s accession in 1950.

The discovery of oil in 1939 and its first export in 1947 changed the fortunes and future of Kuwait. Kuwait experienced a period of prosperity driven by oil that also fueled a major public-work program that allowed Kuwaitis to enjoy a modern standard of living. The infrastructure construction projects and developments to the oil industry attracted an influx of foreign workers mainly from Egypt, India and Palestine.

Transforming from a pearl-diving, fishing and trading nation to an oil-rich state was both a boon and a bane to the country. As is usual with other natural-resource-rich nations, the new found immense wealth allowed the country to develop rapidly into a modern state that ensured its citizens with the lifelong privileges and perks of a welfare state. While this state largesse benefited generations of citizens it also endowed many of them with a sense of entitlement that discouraged self-reliance, responsibility for individual growth and development, entrepreneurship or the need to persevere in the face of challenges.

Kuwait’s six decades of marching along the path of democracy and a representative form of government through an elected parliament has often led to hiccups and hindrances to the formulation and implementation of policies and processes that the country direly needs to ensure a sustainable and dependable future for the country and its citizens. Contentious, elected legislators and an appointed executive have often clashed on the floors of the National Assembly leading to grillings, resignations, parliament suspensions and even downright abrogation. But Kuwait has managed to still plod along the democratic path, bruised but not beaten.

The latest suspension of parliament by the Amir His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah was on Wednesday. The Amiri decree suspended parliamentary sessions for one month as of 18 February. The move follows yet another standoff between the elected assembly and the appointed government that led to the resignation of the cabinet in January, barely a month after it took office.

The Amir had reappointed Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah to nominate a new cabinet and the prime minister had asked for more time to hold elaborate consultations with all stakeholders before forming the cabinet.  Last month’s cabinet resignation had come after more than 30 MPs in the 50-seat assembly supported a motion to question the prime minister on various issues, including his choice of ministers. The one going political tension complicates efforts to tackle a severe liquidity crunch by low oil revenues and in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and stymied by the inability to borrow on international markets due to lack of legislative approval.

Despite these democratic shortcomings to its functioning, on the global stage Kuwait’s strong standing in the international community, its humanitarian and development assistance to countries around the world and the strength of its global diplomacy have been held in high esteem worldwide. This global acclaim came to the country’s aid in 1990 during the vicious Iraqi invasion and seven-month occupation of Kuwait

In the aftermath of the 2 August, 1990 Iraqi invasion by Iraqi troops under Saddam Hussein, the international community unanimously demanded that Iraq withdraw its forces immediately. In 1991, when the Iraqi forces despite numerous warnings, refused to comply with the United Nations’ ultimatum to withdraw its troops from Kuwait, an international coalition under the United States helped to drive back the aggressor and ensure Kuwait’s freedom and sovereignty.

Barely 100 hours after it began in the early hours of 24 February, 1991, Operation Desert Storm, the ground offensive by coalition forces against the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, came to an end on 26 February 1991. Though there were a few pockets of resistance, the international coalition formed under the umbrella of the United Nations and led by the United States met with very little, if any, opposition as they swept through Kuwait and penetrated deep into Iraq.

Saddam Hussein had promised the “mother of all battles” against any army that attempted to retake Kuwait; but what ensued was the sight of thousands of Iraqi soldiers stationed in and around Kuwait surrendering en masse to the coalition forces, with some remnants of Saddam’s rag-tag army scurrying back to Iraq in whatever vehicles they could commandeer.

Shortly after news of the resounding victory of the coalition forces, the then US President George H.W. Bush declared that Kuwait, invaded by Iraq on August 2, was liberated, that Iraq had been defeated, and that the allies’ objectives had been met. “Seven months ago, we drew a line in the sand,” said the president. “We said that aggression would not stand. America and the world have kept its word.”

Exactly eight decades before Kuwait’s Liberation Day, the US-based Arabian Mission of the Reformed Church arrived in Kuwait to build the country’s first dispensary in 1911. Though initially there were some Kuwaitis who viewed the American medical presence in the country with suspicion and hostility, appreciation for the hospital and its value to the public surged in 1920, when Kuwait came under attack by tribes from the central Arabian Peninsula.

The wounded and maimed in the Battle of Jahra and other skirmishes sought treatment at the hospital, and, to the credit of the limited number of physicians and nursing staff there at the time, the lives of 100 of the 104 critically wounded soldiers were saved. Gratitude to the  medical staff and trust in the hospital grew immensely and soon the ‘Americani’, as it was referred to by the locals, became a respected institution in the country.

From this early American medical facility began what would become a long legacy of relations between the United States and Kuwait. Relations between the two countries grew over the ensuing decades, through the years of discovery of oil, the country’s independence, and its growth and transformation into a wealthy, modern welfare nation. In the seventies and eighties, Kuwait’s independent foreign policy often found it at odds with the interests of the United States and the two countries enjoyed for the most part an on-and-off frayed friendship. It is ironic that, just as in 1920, it took another war to bring the two nations and peoples together.

In a speech given on the occasion of commemorating the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait in 2016, former US Ambassador to Kuwait H.E. Douglas A. Silliman noted that people usually learn from difficult periods in its history and graduate with the lessons learned. This, he said, serves as a motivation for the development and progress of the country.

Since liberation in 1991, Kuwait has remained committed to a path of peace and prosperity through upholding democracy and emphasizing national unity and development as its priorities. Kuwait is also aware that remembering the past is vital to the present and future of the country, as it enables each new generation to learn about the value of freedom and the high-price paid by their forebears to ensure Kuwait remains free forever.

 

SOURCE  TIMESKUWAIT

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