SUMMARY

Kuwait gained independence from Great Britain in 1961, after having been a British protectorate since 1899. Since independence, the country has been a hereditary emirate ruled by the al-Sabah royal family. The chief political executive of Kuwait has thus been the emir, which has been chosen from within the al-Sabah family. The First Emir was Abdullah al-Salim al-Sabah, who ruled until 1965. During the conflict with Iraq 1990-1991, the emir was Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah; as of 2017, Sabah Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah (in office since 2006) was the emir of Kuwait.

Kuwait have also had a 50-seat elected legislative (the National Assembly) since 1962, which shares legislative power with the emir. Even if political parties have not been allowed in Kuwait, elections to the National Assembly are convened every four years; Kuwait’s electoral process has been marred by deficiencies and irregularities. The prime minister, which prior to 2003 almost exclusively was the Crown Prince from the al-Sabah family, and cabinet has been appointed directly by the emir; the Government of Kuwait has thus not been democratically elected. Member of the al-Sabah family has traditionally held most of the important cabinet positions. The emir also has the power to overrule the National Assembly, which has only a limited ability to restrict the influence of the emir; the emir also ordered the suspension of the National Assembly on two occasions, 1976-1981 and 1987-1992.

In 1990, the Government of Kuwait had around 20 000 troops; however, most of these could not be mobilized. In 1991, it had 7000-8200 troops.

During the conflict against Iraq in 1991, the Government of Kuwait received massive amounts of secondary warring support from a large UN-mandated international coalition; some 30 countries was part of this coalition, and prominent countries included the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and France. This coalition deployed more than 900 000 troops to drive the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.