Asia
Kuwait is presented here as a historical economic dossier rather than a flat stat sheet: long-run macro cycles, public balance-sheet pressure, market depth, external buffers, and the events that likely bent the curve.
A tighter current-state read before dropping into the long historical charts.
The timeline is where macro numbers meet story: crises, wars, policy shifts, trade deals, and other shocks connected to Kuwait.
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Venezuela founded the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Baghdad in September 1960. OPEC was created to coordinate petroleum policies and gain greater control over oil prices from Western companies.
OPEC, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Venezuela, continued to expand its membership and coordinate oil pricing policies in 1962. The organization's ability to control oil prices would become decisive in the 1970s oil crises.
Iraq under Saddam Hussein invaded and annexed Kuwait, triggering an international crisis and the formation of a US-led coalition to liberate Kuwait. The invasion was motivated by Iraq's massive debt from the Iran-Iraq War and disputes over oil production.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait leads to conflict and subsequent economic sanctions.
A US-led coalition of 35 nations launched air and ground operations to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, decisively defeating Iraq's military in just 100 hours of ground combat. The war established US military dominance in the post-Cold War era.