Government & Problems of Kuwait

The intent in this paper is to describe the government of Kuwait and look at some of the current problems it faces. The Gulf War had a profound impact on Kuwait, altering the face of government and creating new problems for that government to solve.

The history of the development of Kuwait as a country, and the creation of its royal family, is very similar to that of other Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia in particular. Like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait's growth has been fueled by the oil resource, with little other effective development. Finally, again, like Saudi Arabia, much of the growth in Kuwait has been supported by migrant labor, both sophisticated professionals and managers, primarily from Europe and the United States, and blue-collar workers, primarily from poorer countries in the region.

Until the last few years, the government has been dominated by a royal family, the Al Sabah family. While Kuwait has had a parliament, and several ministries that has been dominated by the Al Sabah family, with the expectation that parliament would simply agree with its decisions. For the most part, this had been true for several decades, but has begun to change with the most recent elections. Although political parties are outlawed within the country, opponents from other important families as well as those unallied with major families, have moved into power.

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ns in Kuwait, there is disagreement about the meaning of those elections and the degree of democratization that they represent. For example, in The Nation (Hubbell, 1992), the author noted that the election appeared to be more democratic, but that in reality only one adult in eight was allowed to vote. Election rules prevented all women from voting, as well as any individual whose family arrived in Kuwait after 1920. There were various other requirements which limited the voting population to a minority of adult males over the age of 21. Jeremy Landon (1993) also supported that viewpoint, noting that while a majority of opposition members was elected to the National Assembly, this was futile because they had no real power. National Assembly members are consultative, rather than legislative. In other words, they are not allowed to enact laws. Thus, the real power remains with the monarchy, which Landon believes exerts considerable effort to silence dissent. On the other hand, Rogers and Shelby (1992) conducted an interview with a newspaper editor in Kuwait City which seemed to indicate important changes in relationship between the monarchy and the people. This editor, Muhammad Al-Saqr, indicated that the royal family is
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Gulf War, Al Sabah, National Assembly, Kuwait Kuwait, Middle East, Persian Gulf, Nation Hubbell, United Oil, Oregon University, Saudi Arabia, national assembly, royal family, al sabah, persian gulf, gulf war, persian gulf war, contaminated soil, middle east, al sabah family, sabah family, recent elections, oil lakes, kuwait investment office, power national assembly, 1993 middle east,
Approximate Word count = 1732
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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