ABSTRACT
The Kuwaitis have historically felt a sense of encirclement or “siege mentality” because the state’s immediate environment frequently has been politically inhospitable to its existence and survival. Kuwaitis tend to follow a policy more “independent” and less “subservient” to outside dominance. Kuwait’s “alliance” with Britain at the end of the nineteenth century, and its external trade and interaction with faraway lands and people, became a source of both security and survival. Kuwait’s Arab and Islamic identification affected its sense of missionary responsibility. Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian relations entail political, economic, military, and other broader facets. The main irritant to the Saudis has been Kuwait’s socially and politically “unrestrained” domestic system and its impact on Kuwait’s external behavior. Kuwait’s external behavior is linked to its financial power and internal stability. Its oil revenue is decreasing, its budget is in deficit, and it faces some complicated regional and domestic problems.
