| Sumario: | In his first book on Kuwait, Dr. Ghabra gives his readers an in-depth analysis of the socio-political conditions of Kuwait before, during, and after Kuwait's occupation by Iraq from 1990 to 1991. He divides his analysis into seven chapters. The first examines socio-economic factors; in chapter 2 he places special emphasis on the political institutions; chapter 3 addresses the relationship between the state, society, and social institutions and organizations; chapter 4 examines the state-society during the Iraqi occupation; chapter 5, the elections of 1992. Chapter 6 compares the proponents of democracy and those of fundamentalism in the new parliament, and chapter 7 concludes with some thoughts “towards a building of a nation and the development of a Kuwaiti society.” The introduction by Dr. Sa(c)d el-Din Ibrahim gives a detailed overview of what is described as “al-mujtama'al-madden” and the change towards a democratic society in the Arab world. The author describes the previous relationship between Kuwait to the United States with the term “reluctant” ally because Kuwait, like its neighbor Saudi Arabia, has refused to accept any United States or other foreign military presence on its soil, even when threatened during the Iran-Iraq war. One of the outcomes of the liberation of Kuwait was a very close alliance between Kuwait and the United States which has allowed for military presence on its soil and a military pact that will expire in 2001. The pact and many other steps taken to bring the two countries closer has the support of the majority of the people of Kuwait, who feel indebted to the United States for restoring to them their nation and way of life. The English version of the book will appear in 1996 in the proceedings of the Conference on Conflict Resolution in the Arab World: Theory and Practice, which was organized in Cyprus in 1993 by the American University in Beirut. According to the author, the Palestinians first came to Kuwait in 1948, following the establishment of the state of Israel in what was Palestine. Their numbers later swelled after the defeat of the Arab armies in 1967 and the occupation by Israel of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. By 1970, more than 147,696 Palestinians were living in Kuwait, compared to 77,712 in 1965 and 37,32 in 1961. By 1990, Kuwait was home to 380,000 Palestinians, more than half of the Kuwaiti population of 650,000.
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