To what extent was the Iraq-Kuwait Gulf War Conflict provoked by internal forces?

International History

Ben Aston
24.04.03
Iraqi forces invaded and annexed Kuwait on 2 August 1990. Within twenty four hours Kuwaiti military resistance had effectively ceased, and the government and emir of Kuwait had fled to Saudi Arabia. A puppet administration was installed and Kuwait was declared to be a province of Iraq.

The Persian Gulf War, more commonly referred to as the Gulf War, which began in 1990 and continued through to 1991was driven by a myriad of internal factors. But to what extent were external factors instrumental in the provocation of war? Can some blame be attributed to external forces or would the conflict have occurred despite their involvement and influence? In this essay, the Iraq-Kuwait Gulf War will be understood to mean the conflict which began with Iraqi incursions into Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent events and conflict which continued during early 1991 until 28 February when a ceasefire was declared.

Many Gulf War theorists believe the Gulf War was internally provoked and believe a large portion of the blame can be held to Saddam. Lawrence Freedman suggests “real responsibility [for the Iraq-Kuwait conflict] lies with Saddam Hussein, for the origins of the crisis are to be found in his chronic political insecurity and the lengths to which this drove him.”[1] Although there were many factors which led to Saddam’s political insecurity, in the summer of 1990 the most pressing factor was economic.

Lack of tangible material gains for Saddam to show his people from the war with Iran and the financial burden of a war which had lasted nearly a decade had plunged Iraq into deep financial crisis and insurmountable foreign debt which it could not repay. In order to alleviate the debt which some sources