Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Causes Of Iraq-Kuwait Conflict
- Historical Enmity
- Kuwait and Iraq were both under British rule in Ottoman empire in the past
- However, Iraq was unhappy with Kuwait's independence in 1961
- Iraq refused to accept Kuwait's independence by trying to claim sovereignty over Kuwait forcefully
- This only stopped when Iraq was pressured by neighbouring countries
- However, Iraq still tried to threaten Kuwait using its military forces during border clashes between the countries despite Kuwait offering economic help to Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war
- Tensions between Iraq and Kuwait increased as their relations worsened
- Outbreak of Conflict between Iraq and Kuwait
- Iraq's economic problems (following Iraq-Iran war)
- Iraq suffered huge lost due to the Iraq-Iran war
- For example, Iraq owed a total of 80 billion USD to other countries
- Iraq also needed money to rebuild itself
- Iraq saw Kuwait as an answer to all these problems that it faced and threatened Kuwait in terms of independence, territory and resources
- This increased Kuwait resentment towards Iraq
- Relations between Iraq and Kuwait worsened, tensions increased, leading to outbreak of their conflict
- Oil Production Problems
- After Iraq-Iran war, Iraq needed revenue from the sale of oil to pay off its debts and to rebuild itself
- However, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates(UAE) did exceeded the oil production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC)
- This caused oil prices to fall drastically [From $18/barrel to $7/barrel]
- Iraq's revenue from selling oil dereased by a lot
- Anger of Iraq as it saw this issue as a purpose action by UAE and Kuwait to wage an economic war on Iraq
- Iraq hatred towards Kuwait increased, relations between them worsened
- Tensions between Iraq and Kuwait increased, leading to their conflict
- Territorial Disputes
- This was caused by the unclearly defined borders inherited from the British
- Iraq accused Kuwait for using the slant-drilling technology to steal oil from Iraq between the Rumaila oilfield borders
- Iraq demanded for a compensation of 2.4 billion USD from Kuwait
- Kuwait denied this accusation and refused to compensate Iraq
- Iraq also tried to claim ownership over the Bubiyan and Warbah Islands by force and suggesting to lease them from Kuwait
- This is due to Iraq's fear of Kuwait blocking off its access to the Gulf using the Strategic locations of these islands
- However, Kuwait refused to compromise with Iraq's wants
- This angered Iraq as it felt that Kuwait disregarded its requests
- Hence, Iraq hatred towards Kuwait increased
- Tensions between Iraq and Kuwait increased, their relations worsened, eventually leading to their conflict