Kuwait: after the death of the emir, what about the emirate's regional policy?
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, at an international conference for the reconstruction of Iraq in Kuwait City (image d 'drawing).
YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP
Text by: Nicolas Falez Follow
4 min
The Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah died on September 29 at the age of 91.
He had reigned since 2006 but had previously been Kuwait's foreign minister for decades, notably during the time of Saddam Hussein's invasion of the emirate by Iraq in 1990. Emir Nawaf's half-brother al-Ahmad al-Sabah will succeed him.
But beyond this succession arises the question of the positioning of Kuwait in a region in full evolution.
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In recent years, Kuwait has stepped up efforts to mediate the crises that have rocked its region.
Mediation in Yemen, and since 2017 countless Kuwaiti diplomatic shuttles between Qatar and its neighbors in an unsuccessful attempt to heal the unprecedented fracture that arose within the Gulf Cooperation Council when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain ( supported by Egypt) brutally cut ties with Qatar.
After the death of the Emir arises the question of Kuwait's regional policy.
Will he continue his mediation efforts?
And will he stand on his firm line of refusing any normalization with Israel?
This succession in Kuwait comes at a time when the oil monarchies are in full upheaval: the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have just forged
diplomatic relations with the Hebrew state
.
Led by the Saudi crown princes Mohammed ben Salman and Emirati Mohammed ben Zayed, the Gulf countries are stepping up their standoff with Iran, with which Kuwait has hitherto preferred to maintain a peaceful relationship.
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To read also: The Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah is dead
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The end of an era
With our correspondent in Dubai,
Nicolas Keraudren
His death, after several weeks of concerns about his health, marks the end of an era, as Bader al-Saif, assistant professor of history at the University of Kuwait, points out.
“
Emir Sheikh Sabah is one of the architects of modern Kuwait.
He served the country as Minister of Foreign Affairs for over 40 years and he guaranteed the political system after the country's liberation from Iraq
”.
His succession should not however upset the diplomacy of the monarchy, according to Bader al-Saif: "
Kuwait is not a country where a drastic change in foreign policy can be made because it is a constitutional monarchy. endowed with a Parliament.
In this sense, I think that the country will not evolve on its resolutely pro-Palestinian policy.
It will be the "last country to normalize its relations with Israel".
This moreover reflects the will of the population.
"
On the other hand, the expert expects different changes at the domestic level: "
I think there will be a change at the national level because the new emir was previously the Minister of the Interior as well as that of Defense before to become the crown prince in 2006. It will also be a period of reconciliation
”.
In Kuwait, legislative elections are expected in November.
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Kuwait
Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah
Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah