Is Kuwait a "small state"? Reflections on the notion of viability of small states

Abstract

Is Kuwait a "small state"? To ask the question is neither a matter of seeking paradox nor of provocation. On the contrary, our question is a serious one, in the sense that it points directly to the weakness of certain socio-political analyses based upon quantifiable variables (population and territory) and upon notions of an econometric type (viability, optimal size, economies of scale, etc.). The terminological vagueness reveals in itself the weakness of these analyses and the inadequacy of certain notions and concepts inherited from the nineteenth century in the light of new scientific·, technological and socio-political phenomena; thus, one speaks of the "micro-State", the "small-State", the "small economy", the "small country" ... without the scholar knowing exactly what is being referred to and what rigorous indicators he disposes of to determine smallness, viability, the size declared to be optimal, etc. The study of the Kuwaiti case can contribute to demonstrating the imprecision and fragility of these analyses and of the quantifiable parameters upon which they are based. In short, to seriously call into question the notion of viability itself. With a surface area of 17 ,818 km2 and a total population of 1,300,000 inhabitants (58% of which are foreigners), Kuwait certainly appears to be a small Arab State wedged between Iraq to the north, Saudi Arabia to the south and the Gulf to the east. Given that its indigenous population does not rise above the quasi-magical threshold of one million inhabitants, its inhabitable surface does not exceed 50% of the total territory, its immediate environment is menacing and marked by three regional "giants" (Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran), Kuwait would seem to constitute the ideal case study of a "Small State" and fertile ground for an interrogation on the notion of viability. Observed in isolation and in a mechanistic manner, the two variables population/territory would clearly indicate the existence of a small State with its share of socio-demographic, economic, political and geopolitical problems. However, small demographic size and an exiguous territory are not in themselves significant from the point of view of political or even economic analysis. One must also take into account such parameters as the distribution of the population on the territory (which will be important in the analysis of the communication factor in the broad sense of the term); the degree of urbanization (which will sometimes bring together the study of small States and that of city-States); the demographic structures and their projection (which will indicate the society's internal dynamism) .. .In short, the study of the small size of a State, of a society or of an economy does not solely consist of positivist and quantified observation of the traditional variables, but of a correlation of these variables. Kuwait is thus found not only to be the most heavily populated Principality of the Gulf Emirates but also to have the highest density of the region (63 inhabitants per km2 on average and 118 inhabitants per km2 if one takes into account only the inhabitable surface area). This characteristic together with a very high degree of urbanization (80% of the population is concentrated in the capital and the country's principal ports) indicate a very high degree of communication, which is not without incidence upon the political, social and economic organization. Indeed, if one considers a socio-economic formation and the State which organizes it not only as a juxtaposition of demographic, economic and territorial elements, but as a more or less intense network of communications of all sorts, then density - more than extent of territory - becomes a pertinent variable for the correct evaluation of the socioeconomic viability of a State. Thus, to cite only a few examples: a part from their importance in world commerce of the period, the Mercantile Republics such as Venice, Florence and Geneva, were able to derive a comparative advantage from a degree of internal communication which was more intense than that of larger underpopulated territories; today Hong Kong and Singapore benefit from the same comparative advantage. And this is also the advantage which high density offers the Principality of Kuwait which seems, in this way, to be more homogeneous than Saudi Arabia or Libya.