The Attitude of British Diplomats in Iraq Towards Arab Issues: Kuwait as a Case Study (1932- 1939)

The British were busy with controlling the Gulf region for strategic, economic, and political reasons, especially Iraq and Kuwait, which Britain looked into. Britain also played a role in the path of Arab and regional issues, where Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations witnessed political tensions and in several occasions. The Iraqi official authorities informed the British embassy that Kuwait constitutes an obstacle to Iraq's arrival in the sea, and there are official Iraqi statements that Kuwait is affiliated with Iraq. These statements became a source of concern for the British, so during the years 1932–1939, it tried to contain problems between the two parties, including among them problems (border demarcation, smuggling, construction of a port, and Sheikh property). The sheikhs of Kuwait entered into secret relations with Britain in order to preserve its political entity, which led to the tense Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations, so British diplomats tried to persuade Iraq to solve these problems and recognise the borders of Kuwait. Hence the importance of this research, as it highlighted these events through historical sources, including British documents, to extrapolate the reality of Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations and the role of the British embassy between them, as well as following the research's analytical approach in its writing.