ABSTRACT
Kuwait was associated with the dual tradition of trade and nomadism that had characterized Eastern Arabia up to the advent of the oil industry in the twentieth century. Kuwait lies in the northeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, on a gently undulating plain of arid sand and gravel that forms part of the Arabian desert. Oil was discovered in 1938, at a time when Kuwait was in the midst of a profound economic crisis. The personal network of friendship, kinship, and acquaintances that existed between people in Kuwait and the Arab countries played an important role in providing the Arab migrants with employment. A more plausible explanation is that the post-1973 shift in the pattern of migration in Kuwait was the combined effect of an aggressive policy by some Asian countries to promote the export of labor and Kuwait’s readiness, for a number of reasons, to accept this offer.
