Kuwait: The Year Of Living Dangerously

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The Middle East Peace Process is dead in the water.

Lebanon has lost another anti-Syrian advocate and is one death away from the government collapsing and potential civil war.

Iran continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions, threatening its own population – as well as those of its neighbors – with environmental catastrophe.

Iraq is in a vicious circle of tragic violence and is on the brink of civil war.

Kuwait is wedged between two troubled nations: our government unable to push its agenda through; public protests are on the increase on Kuwaiti streets (i.e. the bedoun issue, the loans issue); sooner than expected falling oil prices; rumors of Constitutional amendments; Sectarian divisions being exploited by demagogues vise a vise the ‘Zakat Law’; Minister ‘Quizzes’ are around the corner; the populace is caught between growing resentment towards the government’s ‘check book diplomacy’ and the manipulation of the stock market by a few entities intent on dragging the whole sector down – and hurting the Kuwaiti investor – through their ‘scorched earth’ policy.

We are living in dangerous times, my friends. Whatever we are all doing: the government, the private sector, the people…It’s not working. And it reminds me of the latter part of the 1980s just before we got invaded by Iraq.

7 thoughts on “Kuwait: The Year Of Living Dangerously

  1. Robert F. Kennedy said, “There is a Chinese curse which says, “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not, we live in interesting times…”
    Welcome to Interesting times.

  2. If we only had JFK famous qoute in our mind:
    “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”
    I’m sure we would’ve been living in a better times.. it also resembeles what every Kuwaiti had in his mind during the invasion.
    And I agree with Zaydoun, they are inquisitions, no substance and objective

  3. there is something alarming about what’s going on now all around us, but what I think Amer is trying to say is very few of us are aware of this dangers. We’re still obsessed with the local stuff….but how can you blame us? Everyone is biatching in parliament cause of the corruption stuff and dont forget minister Sanousi’s ‘interrogation’ or quiz is in its place, the guy keeps doing unconstitutional stuff like blocking kuwait ‘orange’ satellite stations, sending journalists to jail, etc etc plus the the showbiz deal from the 1980s is corrupt. they guy is dirty and is a hypocrite and the others are as well like al shatti. both parliament and government here are stopping our progress not just the parliament

  4. how depressing 🙁
    I can’t tell if this is a changing period or the beginning of the end?!
    will be see a better future after this chaos?
    I hope so.. all we have is hope!

  5. So, just for today, go out and take a long walk in the cool fresh air, breathe in, and know that right now, right this minute, life is sweet.

  6. Yes, there are elements in the current Cabinet that are surprisingly lame choices by a so-called ‘reformist government.’
    I look around Kuwait and I don’t see an intellectual and human resource revolution (which is what we require); all I see are more conferences, more official trips, more discussions, more committees, more ‘5 year plans’ and so forth – nothing radically different than the way we did business in the past.
    My friends are in Dubai for the ‘Leadership Conference’ listening to people like former Disney Chairman Michael Eisner and we’re sitting in Kuwait watching another ‘3rd World Conference’ with Arab government technocrats in action.
    Mucho sad…

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