Persian Gulf Wars of 1991 & 2003 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Persian Gulf Wars of 1991 & 2003 - Essay Example The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq was the first incident in history whereby two member nations of the United Nations were involved in an armed conflict (Carlisle and Bowman, 2003). This brutal takeover unfolded a series of tragic events that engulfed the two nations as well as the rest of the world and disrupted the peaceful world order. It divided the nations of the world into two groups, each trying to defend their respective allies in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation and uphold their political ideologies. Comparison between Gulf and Persian Wars of 1991 and 2003 The primary purpose of the first Gulf War (which took place in the year 1991) was to defend the sovereignty of a member nation (Kuwait) against the unwarranted invasion by Iraqi forces. The first war (of 1991) marked the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq while the second war marked the invasion of Iraq by a coalition of forces led by the United States, UK, Australia and Poland. The invasion of Kuwait was executed by the Iraqi armed forces at the behest of the then President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. Such invasion would prove to be catastrophic for the rest of the world since Kuwait, similar to Iraq, was an oil-rich country and the invasion would greatly benefit Iraq, resulting in the country being in possession and control of over 40 per cent of the world’s oil reserves. This fact alarmed the rest of the world and under the leadership of United States along with its closest ally - UK many other countries including and as varied as France, Japan, and Pakistan formed a coalition of forces and supported Kuwait in defending its sovereignty (Finlan, 2008). The key objective of the first Gulf war was hence to prevent the tilting of balance of power in favor of the oil-rich Iraq by defending the political territory of Kuwait, and restore the world order. The second Persian Gulf War (of 2003) also known as the Iraq War, was Post the defeat of Iraq by the coalition forces and the subsequent cease fire which ended in 1991; Iraq was obligated to allow inspections of its military units and research facilities for suspected development, use and possession of weapons of mass destruction. The refusal of Iraqi dictator to submit to such demands triggered the 2003 War on Iraq which served as a basis for political unrest within and without the borders of the Arab world. There were several efforts to disarm Iraq of its nuclear weapons through diplomatic pressure. However the failure to do so compelled the United Nations to allow United States led forces to use military power to achieve the political objective (Sidlow and Henschen, 2008: 373). The Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process: An Evaluation The Palestinian-Israeli peace process also known as the Oslo peace process refers to the decade old diplomatic efforts to restore peace and end the animosity between the two warring nations. The fundamental bone of contention between Palestine and Israel was the refusal of the Arab world to acknowl edge the existence of the Jewish state. The need for peace process arose from the rebellious behavior of Palestinians under the Israeli occupation, and their reluctance to cooperate with the Israeli government. There was widespread unrest among the Palestinians against the Israelis which began from the boycott of Israeli goods by the Palestinians, and eventually increased in scope and magnitude to burning, lynching,