Abstract:
This thesis attempts three related tasks. First, it surveys the historic record which provides uncontestable evidence that Kuwait was never part of the Ottoman Empire and thus never formed a single administrative or political unit with Iraq or part of it. Second, it traces the turbulent history of Kuwait‟s relationship with Iraq ever since the latter achieved independence in 1932; arguing that this turbulent relationship invited the intervention of regional and international players due to the strategic importance of Kuwait, especially since the discovery of oil. Third, it speculates on the prospects for overhauling this relationship, in light of: 1) the major transformations that Iraq has underwent since the downfall of Saddam Hussein and the Baath regime in 2003; and 2) the growing power of Iran in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf.
