Gulf War
The Gulf War of 1990–1991 was a conflict in which a U.S.-led coalition of more than thirty countries expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded and annexed in August 1990. The ground phase of the war was strikingly brief, and its outcome seemed to confirm American military primacy at the moment the Cold War was ending. President George H. W. Bush spoke of a "new world order," and the United States emerged as the world's sole superpower.
The roots of the crisis lay in the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, which left Iraq heavily indebted, including to Gulf neighbors such as Kuwait. Saddam Hussein's government pressed Kuwait to forgive those debts and accused it of overproducing oil, which depressed prices, and of drilling across the border into Iraqi oil fields. Iraq also revived old claims that Kuwait was historically part of its territory. Negotiations failed, and Iraqi troops overran Kuwait in early August 1990.
The international response was unusually unified. The UN Security Council condemned the invasion, imposed sweeping sanctions, and later authorized the use of force if Iraq did not withdraw by mid-January 1991. Saudi Arabia, fearing for its own security, hosted a massive buildup of forces under Operation Desert Shield. The coalition included Western powers and several Arab states, among them Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Iraq, meanwhile, fired missiles at Israel, apparently hoping to fracture the coalition, but Israel did not retaliate.
Operation Desert Storm began in January 1991 with a air campaign lasting about five weeks, targeting Iraqi air defenses, communications, and military infrastructure. The ground offensive followed in late February and collapsed Iraqi resistance in roughly 100 hours, hence the war's popular shorthand. Kuwait was liberated, and a ceasefire was declared. Coalition casualties were remarkably low, while Iraqi military losses were far higher; estimates of Iraqi dead vary widely and remain uncertain.
The consequences were lasting. Coalition forces did not march on Baghdad, partly because the UN mandate was limited to liberating Kuwait. Saddam remained in power and brutally suppressed Shiite and Kurdish uprisings that followed the war, leading to no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq. Iraq was subjected to UN weapons inspections and long-term sanctions, whose humanitarian toll became a source of controversy. The continued presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia angered some Islamist figures, including Osama bin Laden. Many historians see the war as a prelude to later American involvement in the region, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq, while the "new world order" it was meant to herald proved far less settled than hoped.