ABSTRACT
The Iraqi raid on Kuwait on August 2, 1990 initiated the first international crisis since the end of the East-West conflict and led to the forced liberation of the Kuwaiti emirate by a worldwide Coalition headed by the United States. Even the liberation of East and Central Europe in 1989/1990 and the unification of Germany occurred peacefully and facilitated far-reaching disarmament. The Cold War was officially terminated during the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in Paris in November 1990, which a US observer later appropriately called the "Ersatz" Peace Conference. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, members of the West European Union, at the behest of France, attempted to streamline their response. Although France, Italy, and other West European countries had pursued a peaceful diplomatic solution to the crisis for some time, the British government was emphatic that only a complete and unconditional Iraqi retreat from Kuwait was acceptable.
