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Risk Management Report: Kuwait


Risk Management Reports
Issue 989 - 19 Mar 2015 | 1 minute read

Kuwait has been governed by the Al-Sabah family since the 18th century. It gained independence from Britain in 1961; a new constitution written that year confirmed the hereditary monarchy, but gave significant powers to an independent judiciary and an elected assembly. The emir – currently Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah – retains final say and political parties are banned. But the 50-member assembly has proven vibrant, and Kuwaiti politics the most participatory in the Gulf. The downside of this experiment in partial democracy has been the constant friction between the elected parliament and the appointed government, which has often resulted in paralysis of the state. Kuwait’s media is one of the most outspoken in the region but, since 2011, the government has cracked down on criticism of Islam or of the ruling family. The downward trend arrow on Kuwait’s political risk grade reflects the potential for political instability as members of the ruling family jostle for position; the emir is in his mid-eighties and, while his half-brother Nawaf is expected to succeed him, there is uncertainty about where power will go next. Externally, there have been serious crises with Iraq in the 1970s, Iran in the 1980s and the occupation by Iraq in 1990. Emir Sabah sometimes plays a mediating role within the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and, in the past year, has shown himself willing to rebuild ties with Iran.

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