Introduction
The second Gulf war was an international conflict in 1990-1991, triggered by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain ordered his troops to invade and seize control over Kuwait. Since Kuwait has a small territory and borders with Saudi Arabia, Iraq could easily occupy it and make Saudi Arabia its next target (Al-Moslemani, 2020). Iraq was sure of its success because its army was the strongest in the region (Al-Moslemani, 2020). In addition, the country’s leader was convinced that the US would not intervene, probably because Hussain asked the US Ambassador before the attack about the US’s possible reaction and received an answer that the US had “no special defense or security commitments to Kuwait” (Jenkins, 2019, p. 254).
However, when the invasion took place, the prompt response of the United Nations followed. On August 6, The UN imposed a ban on international trade with Iraq (Alnabhany, 2019). On November 29, the Security Council issued a decree authorizing the use of force against Iraq if it fails to remove its troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 (Alnabhany, 2019). Since Iraq did not comply with the decree, the US launched a series of combat operations aimed at destroying the Iraqi infrastructure and communications and evicted the Iraqi troops from Kuwait. In the March of 1991, the leaders of the US-led coalition and Iraq signed an armistice, which freed Kuwait from Iraqi forces and made Iraq recognize Kuwait’s sovereignty.
The Causes of the War
The first reason why the second Gulf war happened was related to the economy. Iraq was significantly affected economically by the recent war with Iran that lasted from 1980 to 1988. It suffered considerable losses because of casualties, damaged infrastructure, and the costs of war. As a result, Saddam Hussain asked Kuwait to provide it with economic support by forgiving past loans that reached $40 billion and giving new ones (Alnabhany, 2019). As Kuwait refused to provide such support, the tension between the two countries increased. Further, Iraq suspected Kuwait of contributing to a decrease in oil prices that fell from $20.50 to $13.00 between January and June 1990 (Jenkins, 2019). The reason for this suspicion was that Kuwait refused to comply with OPEC production quotas. The decrease in oil prices negatively affected the Iraqi damaged economy since this country heavily relied on oil exports.
Another important issue between Iraq and Kuwait that led to war was the dispute about the borders. Although Iraq initially admitted that Kuwait was an independent country in 1963, it began to claim that Kuwait was, in fact, part of the Iraqi territory (Alnabhany, 2019). The reason for such claims was that Iraq wanted to obtain oil resources possessed by Kuwait. According to Jenkins (2019), Iraq suspected Kuwait of stealing its oil from the Ramalia oil field, which is located in Iraq but extends 5 miles into Kuwait, through the practice of “slant drilling.” Therefore, Iraq aimed at occupying Kuwait to obtain more oil to restore its economy. Al-Moslemani (2020) also notes that Saddam Hussain intended to be “the leader of the Arabs,” for which he had to overthrow the regime of Al-Subah (p. 166). Thus, one more reason for the second Gulf war was the struggle for hegemony in the Gulf region.
The Impact of the War
The war was devastating for Iraq because of its loss of infrastructure due to combat operations and economic sanctions imposed by the UN. The UN issued several resolutions that had an impact on defeating the Iraqi troops and restoring peace. During the war, resolutions from 660 to 678 were issued, which obliged Iraq to leave Kuwait and authorized the use of force if it refused to comply (Saeed & Katman, 2020). After Iraq was evicted from Kuwait, the UN passed resolutions aimed to delineate the borders between the two countries, establish a demilitarized zone between them, destroy the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, return seized Kuwaiti property, repatriate citizens of other countries, and prevent actions of international terrorism (Saeed & Katman, 2020). Resolution 833 obliged Iraq to admit Kuwait’s sovereignty (Alnabhany, 2019). In addition, Iraq was forced to pay $47.8 billion as compensation to Kuwait and $5.26 as an indemnification for the environmental damage that was caused when Iraq set Kuwaiti oil wells on fire while retreating (Alnabhany, 2019).
Resolution 687 imposed an economic embargo on Iraq, which significantly affected many areas of its citizens’ life. Iraq lost over two-thirds of its GDP; its inflation and unemployment rates increased; the poverty levels rose; the education system was in decline (Saeed & Katman, 2020). Seeing the destructive effect of resolution 687 on the Iraqi population, the UN issued Resolution 986 in 1995, known as the “Oil-for-Food Program,” allowing Iraq to sell its oil in exchange for food, medications, and other humanitarian needs (Saeed & Katman, 2020).
The Future Prospects
The second Gulf war has provided several important gains and lessons for the future. According to Anthony (2017), one of its main results is that Kuwait’s sovereignty was restored, and the UN Charter’s ban on territory acquisition by force was followed. This war also showed that the joint efforts of government leaders directed toward coordinating the majority of the UN votes had the power of defeating the threat to global peace (Anthony, 2017). Further, Saeed and Katman (2020) note that the devastating effect of resolution 687 on the population has led the UN to reconsider its approach to sanctions. In the future, so-called smart sanctions can be viewed as a better method since they are targeted at responsible government officials rather than the general population.
References
Al-Moslemani, S. M. (2020). The GCC, Iraq, and Iran: Perception of threats before and after the crisis. In M. Zweiri, M. M. Rahman, & A. Kamal (Eds.), The 2017 Gulf crisis: An interdisciplinary approach (pp. 163-178). Springer.
Alnabhany, T. (2019). Bringing Iraq out of chapter VII of the charter of United Nations (Publication No. 12580) [Master’s thesis, Corvinus University of Budapest]. CUB Theses.
Anthony, J. D. (2017). The 1990-1991 Kuwait crisis remembered: Profiles in statesmanship. Arabia, the Gulf, and the GCC.
Jenkins, P. S. (2019). War and happiness: The role of temperament in the assessment of resolve. Palgrave Macmillan.
Saeed, F., & Katman, F. (2020). Economic sanctions in the United Nations and its modern applications (1990-2002). European Researcher, 11(2), 104-111.