Who will be Kuwait’s next crown prince?

Seven years after a succession crisis shattered Kuwait’s delicate domestic political balance (GSN 774/1), the emirate is gearing up for another battle over the country’s leadership. Kuwait’s 84-year-old Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in power since January 2006, remains in good health, though he has worn a pacemaker since 1999. Nonetheless, questions are increasingly being asked about the next succession. Kuwait is a hereditary emirate, and only the descendants of Mubarak Al-Sabah, known as Mubarak the Great (r. 1896-1915), may be emir; traditionally, heirs are chosen from the Al-Salem and Al-Jaber branches of the family, by a ruling family council.