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Kuwait

June 21, 2026

Kuwait City 10:09 pm

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The Kuwait City skyline is pictured from across the waterfront along the Gulf in Salimiyah on June 2, 2026. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP via Getty Images)

Kuwait wooes wealthy foreigners with investor permit as war hits economy

The Gulf state announced a new 15-year year residency permit for investors on Monday, just a day after stripping citizenship from thousands.

Kuwaiti Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft fly over during an airshow commemorating Kuwait's 64th Independence Day in Kuwait City on Feb. 25, 2025.

Analysis

How Iran war is reshaping Kuwait's air defense strategy

After repeated missile and drone attacks, Kuwait is investing in new counter-drone capabilities while reassessing vulnerabilities exposed by the conflict.

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Latest News

In aftermath of Iran attack, Rubio hosts Kuwait FM: What to know

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah walk together during a brief appearance for the press as they meet at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 4, 2026.

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics

Karen Young

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

A Kuwaiti trader wearing a protective mask follows the market at the Boursa Kuwait stock exchange in Kuwait City on March 1, 2020. - Boursa Kuwait decided to close the main trading hall due to the COVID-19 coronavirus disease developments. Stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf states plunged on March 1 over fears of the impact of the coronavirus, which also battered global bourses last week. All of the seven exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which were closed the previous two days for the Muslim

GCC states race for foreign investment

Despite the Saudi-led effort to bury the hatchet with Qatar, unified economic policies are coming up against by GCC countries’ needs to win foreign investment post-COVID.

Kuwait's prime minister submits Cabinet's resignation

Ministers handed in their resignations Tuesday amid a standoff with parliament.

Journalists watch the arrival of the Qatar envoy ahead of the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the city of al-Ula in northwestern Saudi Arabia on January 5, 2021. - Saudi Arabia will reopen its borders and airspace to Qatar, US and Kuwaiti officials said, a major step towards ending a diplomatic rift that has seen Riyadh lead an alliance isolating Doha. The bombshell announcement came on the eve of GCC annual summit in the northwestern Saudi Arabian city of Al-Ula, where the dispute was already

Gulf unity deal further isolates Iran

Healing the Gulf Cooperation Council rift is a parting gift for Trump and a welcome gift for Biden in dealing with the Islamic Republic.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: President Donald Trump (R) holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump administration pushes last-minute arms deals to Middle East

The move to go forward with a proposed $290 million sale of precision-guided bombs for Saudi Arabia comes just weeks before the Biden administration arrives.

A worker inspects bottles of milk on on the producion line at a dairy factory at Baladna farm in the city of al-Khor, 60 kilometers north of the Qatari capital on October 26, 2019. - The cows of Qatar's Baladna farm, housed in climate-controlled farms in the desert, exemplify the lengths to which Qatar has gone to resist what it calls an economic "blockade" enforced by its Saudi-led neighbours. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Gulf economies face major challenges in post-COVID 19 world

Signals indicate the embargo imposed on Qatar could come to an end, but can the Gulf Cooperation Council play a coordinating role vital to diversify Gulf economies post-pandemic?

This picture taken December 12, 2019 shows (L) a view of the exchange board at the Stock Exchange Market (Tadawul) bourse in Riyadh displaying Aramco shares on the second day of their trading, along with a poster depicting Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdulaziz ibn Saud (C), his son and current King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R), and the latter's son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) on display. - Energy giant Saudi Aramco's market value soared above $2 trillion as its share price surged again on its second da

Gulf oil exporters look past Biden’s green energy platform

The possible return of Iranian crude to global markets is a short-term concern for Gulf oil producers, which expect to be the last man standing in a decarbonizing world.

Boycotts of French goods launched in Kuwait, Qatar over prophet cartoons

Following controversial comments made by France's president, calls are growing in Muslim countries for boycotts of French goods.

Saudi students pass their final exams at a workshop in the Higher Institute for Plastics Fabrication on June 13, 2016 in Riyadh.
The students at the Higher Institute for Plastics Fabrication (HIPF) learn to manufacture plastic bags, pipes, bottles and other products, skills they immediately put to work in what the government says is a unique model. Reducing the kingdom's high unemployment rate is a foundation -- and major challenge -- of the government's wide-ranging Vision 2030 reform plan unveiled in Apr

Can Gulf states adopt universal basic income?

Existing social welfare systems have insulated Gulf nationals from changing economic realities and the likelihood of a major global energy transition in the coming decades.

Kuwait’s new emir urges national unity in run-up to elections

Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah told lawmakers he would follow in the footsteps of the late emir.

This picture shows a general view of Kuwait's Parliament meeting during which Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was sworn in as the country's new Emir, in Kuwait City on September 30, 2020. - Kuwait today swore in its new emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, after the death of his half-brother, Sheikh Sabah, who died in the US at the age of 91. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Kuwaiti emir names new crown prince

Sheikh Mishaal al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah was previously deputy head of Kuwait's National Guard and is now next in line to become emir.

Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah salutes the crowd after being sworn in as Kuwait's new Emir at the National Assembly in Kuwait City on September 30, 2020. - Kuwait today swore in its new emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, after the death of his half-brother, Sheikh Sabah, who died in the US at the age of 91. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Economic uncertainty looms after Kuwaiti emir's death

Kuwait faces a wave of bankruptcies as the COVID-19 crisis wreaks havoc on the emirate’s economy, which is in desperate need of reform.

A picture taken on September 29, 2020 in Kuwait City shows a portrait of Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. - Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, regarded as the architect of the nation's modern foreign policy, died today at the age of 91, according to the royal court. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Kuwaiti emir dead at 91

Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has died in a US hospital, according to Kuwaiti state television.