‘New envoy must work to up interdependence network with US’
“HIS HIGHNESS the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince, Sheikh Mishaal Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, received at Bayan Palace on Monday, March 13, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber, where he presented to His Highness the new heads of diplomatic and consular missions, Sheikh Sabah Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad, Kuwait’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Sheikha Zain Al-Sabah, Ambassador to the United States of America, where they took the constitutional oath before His Highness,” columnist Abdullah Bishara wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“This is how the news about the oath-taking ceremony came. It was carried by international news agencies and the Kuwaiti press, although it carried about the developments of the catastrophe of the ill-fated invasion.
“Kuwait is now sailing in a diplomatic boat other than that which seduced Saddam Hussein and his group of bandits, to enter Kuwait, as this gloomy group used to repeat, and in fairness to the leadership of Kuwait before the invasion, this leadership adhered to the conditions set by the Nasserite leadership for Kuwait’s entry to the Arab League in 1961, despite that this leadership ignoring Kuwait’s right to choose the mechanisms for its safety and security, and among those conditions was the withdrawal of the British forces although the then
Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem, wanted their presence to repel the threats of the military government of Iraq.
“The Amir of Kuwait was facing a challenge, and it was not easy to accept the withdrawal of the British soldiers without an alternative that would protect Kuwait and secure its independence.
“Kuwait lived from 1961, until the invasion, without a deterrent force, relying on soft diplomacy, which was represented by an Arab vitality that interacted seriously with the decisions of the League, volunteering in efforts to turn them into reality, and from them the late Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad became the envoy of good offices in overcoming Arab differences, moving between Arab capitals, looking for an entry that would achieve his goals in Arab solidarity, which he believed in as a climate that comforts Kuwait, and he believed in its necessity for souls to rest in it.
“The truth is that this philosophy settled in Kuwait, and emerged as a strategic doctrine of Kuwaiti diplomacy, protecting Kuwait, repelling interference in its affairs, and deterring those who have an appetite in its lands with a commitment to public relations with all countries of the world, including the permanent members of the Security Council, without intimacy and without private channels with any of them, in addition to the efforts of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, who was presiding over the most complex errands in the Arab disputes over Lebanon and Palestine and Iraq’s problems with Iran, he was the head of the Arab Committee for the Defense of Iraq at the time of the invasion.
“The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the battalion led by Sheikh Sabah to build an inclusive Arab system in which mutual trust and reassurance are sustainable.
“In the early hours of the morning of the second of August 1990, the Iraqi forces crossed the border, in implementation of Saddam Hussein’s order to occupy Kuwait, and from the Ministry of Defense, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, went out to the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I was with him in the car that carried us from the ministry to the Saudi border.
“He was silent, sad, and deeply affected. The institution of Arab solidarity, the concept of fraternity, and sources of reassurance were all destroyed, and the realities of the Arab world appeared without make-up.
“They were honest and painful, but their positive aspects came in restoring awareness that countries do not prosper without deterrence mechanisms. Without them, there is no guarantee of what the future holds.
“Among the lessons that we learned from the catastrophe of the invasion, a moving strategy was developed that magnified the pillars of stability, preserved the sustainability of independence, and secured sovereignty.
“From this strategy emerged special sites that overlapped with Kuwait in a network whose threads varied in all political, military, security, economic, and educational colors, with periodic consultations, and the most important from all this, the Kuwaiti belief in its yield and the appropriateness of its harvest has grown.
“In this regard, I recall what the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem spoke of the fateful bond with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, deepening understanding with Britain, consolidating the identity of Kuwaiti interests, and giving them priority within the framework of the Arab League its land, sky and sea, with the eminence of the Gulf bosom and its generosity in hosting the Kuwaitis who rushed out for safety in a totally different mood from the situation when Kuwait threw open the gates of the country to the occupation army without confrontation.
“With these divisions that characterize Kuwaiti-Saudi relations, Sheikh Sabah Nasser Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s new Ambassador to Riyadh, finds before him a beautiful and honest historical account of solid relations characterized by mutual sacrifices and smooth meetings, whether between leaders or between various professional and popular groupings.
“I have full confidence that Ambassador Sheikh Sabah Al-Nasser is aware that his time, mission and ambitions in Riyadh are different from those carried by Kuwaiti ambassadors before the invasion, and that he must be guided by what the ambassadors who lived through the Kuwaiti strategic transformation, most of whom were members of the ruling family.
“We also welcome the joining of Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah to the Kuwaiti diplomatic contingent that will take her to Washington, with my conviction that she will find the atmosphere in the city of Washington smiling at her, due to her character, balance, quiet maturity, and awareness of the burdens of the task that Kuwait has placed on her shoulders.
“And I hope that she will get support to expand the paths between the two countries, and in all fields, since the strategic interdependence with Washington is embodied in the military aspect prominently, while we wish the expansion of paths in relations, so I hope the presence of the Chamber of Commerce, a group of university professors, and others from the press with calls for the diversity of Kuwait’s American guests, so as to ensure diverse communication, and popular diplomacy in communication between the two parties.
“Kuwait has the qualifications that guarantee it a privileged position in Washington, relying on reviewing its constitution dominated by the authority of law, which draws a map of Kuwait’s life, the rights of its people and its political system, and focuses on Kuwait’s thought on human dignity and protection of his rights, freedom of opinion and support for women’s rights, and above all that Kuwait is generous in its partnership with development programs in developing countries.
“The ambassador will find a sincere welcome from the various gatherings. Ambassador Al-Zain must employ all platforms and speak forcefully, explaining the facts of Kuwait and the beauty of its content, and she must use the energies and talents that Kuwait possesses in the course of her work, and work to deepen the network of interdependence with the United States.”
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“The announcement of the return of diplomatic relations between the two great Muslim neighbors, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a historic decision of great importance to all Muslims,” columnist Dr Ahmed Al-Anisi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“The thinking of the wise, the application of the language of reason and logic, and the containment of what is being hatched for the Islamic nation is the summit of rationality, and this is what the aforementioned historical decision translated.
“We are not about to make one of the parties wrong, and everyone is subject to mistakes, but reconsidering improper matters reflects the virtues possessed by the parties involved in the matter, and there is no doubt that those who benefit from tension and living on a hot plate will question this agreement, and will try to thwart it by sowing discord between the two parties, as they do not like them living without heating up the region to sell weapons and dedicating the presence of the colonialists to bleeding and siphoning off the region’s bounties.
“So it is better for all regional countries to dialogue and reconciliation and give preference to the language of reason over the language of war, and for this we do not rule out that some hidden colonial hands will ignite strife again between the two regional powers (the two Muslim neighbours).
“They will turn the resulting positives into negatives in order to thwart this agreement, which many consider in the interest of the region to live with this concluded agreement. On the other hand, we are reassured, and we see that these two parties, in the concluded agreement, are aware of what is being played against them, and they know that their interests require reconciliation and dialogue, rather than continuous hostility.
“We do not want to question the malicious intentions of some writers who are accustomed to not “satisfying” with any regional reconciliation, as if they are one of the parties to the enmity in the region, or have ties to the colonialists.
“Insisting on intimidation from a Muslim neighbor against another? Is it in order to perpetuate American hegemony and keep the Middle East under foreign protection and colonialism forever?
“Apart from dogmatic ideologies, we see that the agreement between two main and important axes in the region is in the interest of the peoples and removes the specter of wars and foreign interventions from our region, as well as rid us of the doctrinal tensions that Muslims are supposed to cooperate in order to refute them, and thus “strengthen” the Islamic religion.
“This agreement also has positive aspects, which is to make the countries of the region change their strategic paths from armaments to ensure their security, as a result of the tension that has been burning for more than four decades, to move towards development paths that have been neglected for decades, and for this the time has come to focus on sustainable development in all its fields (economic and social) and environmental).
“I know why some writers do not live comfortably without the tension in the relationship between the two Muslim neighbors, the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“Rather, they do not live comfortably except by heating up the region due to the tension in the relationship between the two major axes in the region.”