Article 2: Conflict between Iraq and Kuwait ( Gulf War )

More regarding the article: http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Could-War-Flare-Again-Between-Iraq-And-Kuwait.html

Summary of Article: 

During the Iran-Iraq war which ended in 1988, Iraq sustained heavy casualties and faced severe economic problems. Iraq suffered about US$230 billion in damages and also owed about US$80 billion in debts to other countries such as the US and France which provided Iraq with war supplies. Iraq decided to solve the problem by earning more revenue from the sale of oil. However, oil prices were declining due to overproduction of oil by countries such as Kuwait and UAE. As a result, Iraq lost a lot of revenue due to the falling oil prices. Iraq also felt that the action of Kuwait and the UAE was equivalent to waging an economic war on Iraq as 90% of its income came from the sale of oil. This worsened their relationship as Iraq saw Kuwait’s refusal to stop overproduction of oil as an attack on its interest and hence Iraq decided to launch an attack on Kuwait. The dispute over territory at the Rumaila oilfield as well as the Bubiyan and Warbah Islands also contributed to the conflict, which raised tensions between the two nations and eventually caused Iraq to invade Kuwait and escalate a large-scale war which involved other countries such as Saudi Arabia and the USA.

Personal Commentary:

I feel that it is indeed impossible for one party to willingly submit to the demands of the other party to solve the complications between them. This is where diplomacy should come in so as to resolve the conflict in a peaceful and non-violent manner. In my opinion, war and violence is not the solution to the conflict and that there are many alternatives in solving the problem. 

Through diplomacy, each party can make agreements with each other and also create friendly ties to prevent the occurrence of a war. In this conflict, the measure implemented to resolve the problem was the mediation by the Arab League where it requested for Kuwait to lower their oil production levels. The negotiations seemed to be going on well but Kuwait did not intend to adhere to these quotas and also refused to give in to any territorial demands and Iraq finally invaded Kuwait. Therefore, it was rather ineffective as it did not really solve the complications of both nations. 

I feel that Kuwait was wrong to ignore the quota set by OPEC and produced oil well above the assigned limits because it was directly affecting the development of Iraq’s economy which was already severely damaged in the first place. Kuwait should also empathise with Iraq’s situation and not worsen the conflict by reducing the price of oil, knowing that oil was Iraq’s major export. However, Iraq is also wrong to invade Kuwait as a mode of retaliation. Iraq should have tried to resolve the conflict peacefully and make agreements with Kuwait in order to settle the problem. The war resulted in heavy casualties on both sides as Iraq did not agree to withdraw from Kuwait, causing coalition forces to open fire on Iraq’s troops. Many lives could be saved if such a devastating war did not occur and tensions between both countries will also cease if both nations were willing to cooperate with each other without having to fight. 

This links to the topic in which deterrence and diplomacy are alternatives to resolve complications with two parties in a peaceful manner and therefore, there will be no casualties. We can learn from this issue and prevent the loss of lives in the future.