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Volume :46 Issue : 1 2018
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Kuwait-Iran Relations: A Bonstructive Approach or a National Interest- based Perspective?
Auther : Hamad H. Albloshi
The relationship between Kuwait and Iran has gone through different stages that were mostly positive, especially since the independence of Kuwait in 1961. Kuwait and Iran differ in terms of culture, language, sect, and ethnicity. This paper tries to examine the relationship between the two sides through Constructivism by raising different questions, such as: Are cultural and religious factors instrumental in determining the shape of bilateral relations between the two nations? Or, are the relations merely based on political interests that are influenced by other factors than culture or religion? After tracing the relationship between Kuwait and Iran, this paper concludes that Constructivism is important to understand the cultural and social roots of countries' behavior, but it is not enough to understand the relationship between Kuwait and Iran without understanding the internal developments in each country and the regional structure of the Middle East. The study comes to the conclusion that the Neoclassical Realist Theory helps more in understanding the relationship between the two countries.
Keywords: Kuwait-Iran relations, Constructivism, Neoclassical realism, International structure, Regional structure, National interest.