Previous Issues

         This study deals with the history of the British Bank of the Middle East in Kuwait and its role in the economy of Kuwait over the period of three decades.  This requires a survey of the general situation in the country, nationally, economically and socially when this institution was first started.  The bank was established in Kuwait during World War II when British politics faced many critical circumstances in the area.  In that year, the Kilani Revolution in Iraq broke out and the ensuing developments in Iran (Musaddaq and the nationalization of petroleum) caused Britain to be concerned about its petroleum interests in the whole region of the Middle East, not to mention German and Italian pressures as well as the internal developments in the area.

        The expansion of these economic institutes through opening their branches in the Middle East and the oil-producing countries at that time had its social and economic implications.  This study will show that the political dimension underlined the planning of the spread of these institutes in our countries at the importantly sensitive times of World War II.

        This paper will also tackle the establishment of the British Bank of the Middle East in Kuwait and the relation of its economic activities to the political situation and the bank’s attitude to the establishing of local national banks.  The paper will also deal with the circumstances under which the activities of the bank were terminated and will conclude with an evaluation of this experience.