Relations with the United States

Early contacts between the United States and Kuwait were unofficial and religious in nature. Around 1910 a group of U. S. missionaries started the American Hospital in Kuwait, which lasted until the 1950's. These early humanitarian activities created an image of the United States as a goodwill state. This was in sharp contrast with Great Britain's image as an exploitative state. One of the reasons for lack of official Kuwaiti foreign relations with the United States was the 1899 agreement between Kuwait and Great Britain, which did not allow Kuwait to establish other foreign relations without the approval of Great Britain.

By the end of World War II, Great Britain was too weak to continue its traditional dominating rule in the Persian Gulf. The United States gradually replaced Great Britain as the force to preserve Western interests in the region. Over the years the United States adopted a three-fold foreign policy in the Persian Gulf: to assure the free flow of oil from the Gulf to industrialized nations, to contain Soviet communism, and to protect the state of Israel against possible threats from its neighbors.

The Persian Gulf War made the United States the most important foreign power in the Gulf region. The war laid the foundations for a more active U. S. policy toward Kuwait. The United States relationship with Kuwait moved from a hesitant and distant relationship into a relationship of security and cooperation.

The reflagging of Kuwaiti oil tankers with the U. S. flag during the Iran-Iraq War had been the first step in security operations between the United States and Kuwait. In 1985 Iran began attacking Kuwaiti oil tankers to make Kuwait's financial and strategic support for Iraq costly. Kuwait, however, turned to the United States for protection against Iran. The reflagging operation allowed Kuwait to export its oil freely under U. S. control.

Kuwait's relationship with the United States has transformed its foreign policy objectives and priorities. The United States remains the only guarantor of Kuwaiti security against its more powerful neighbors, the role that had been played by Great Britain prior to Kuwaiti independence in 1961.