A Storm in a Tea-Cup

Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, triggered a full-blown crisis whose ramifications reverberate to the present day. Few people at the time were aware of the details of the Iraq-Kuwaiti dispute, let alone the fact that twenty-nine years earlier, on the heels of receiving independence from Great Britain, Kuwait had been subjected to blatant Iraqi threats of invasion. That long-forgotten episode, which triggered the return of British troops to protect Kuwait, followed by a successful effort to achieve an “Arab solution” to the crisis, is brought to life in this detailed account. Drawing upon British archival records, as well as a broad range of Arab media sources, Hillman presents a multi-layered and nuanced analysis of the conflict and its resolution.