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Original title: The Dead 丨 Walk with the Times, Be in One Heart with the People-The Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Ahmed Jaber
On September 29, the 91-year-old Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Ahmed Jaber (head of state) died of illness. On the same day, international organizations and leaders from various countries issued a eulogy: UN Secretary General Guterres called him “an outstanding politician and an outstanding humanitarian”; the president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Renahyan called him “the most outstanding leader of the Arab and Islamic countries”, the king of Jordan called him “a close brother, a wise leader and a noble emir”. Why is this prominent leader dedicated to pushing for reforms of Kuwait’s internal and external affairs by the international community?
Rich political experience
Sabah was born in Jahra Province, Kuwait in 1929 and spent most of her childhood in her uncle’s home. At the age of four, he left Jahra province and moved to the Saif Palace (later it became the palace of the government of Kuwait), and completed his studies at the Mubarakia School (the first formal study established in Kuwait ). I went to Europe, Asia and other places to study.
Sabah’s political career began in 1954. In this year, he entered the country’s highest executive council (equivalent to the council of ministers) as emir and became a member of it. He has served as head of national news four times. Before Kuwait became independent, he was the head of the General Administration for Publications and Distribution. After Kuwait became independent in 1961, he became the first Minister of Information. During his tenure, Kuwait founded the first known cultural newspaper in Arab countries: “Arabs”. Subsequently, he served as Kuwait’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Petroleum, and Prime Minister, respectively. In January 2006 he became the 15th Emir of Kuwait.
The best moment of his political career coincided with the reshaping of the international and regional political structure after the Second World War. The national independence movement was on the rise, the United States and the Soviet Union clamored for hegemony, the Palestinian question stirred the Middle Eastern countries, Arab nationalism and communism. Zionism and other ideological trends continue to affect the internal affairs and diplomacy of several countries in the region. In these turbulent times, Sabah has always used its superb political wisdom to build an independent international image of Kuwait abroad, and values national unity and democratic reform internally for the development of the country. I created a good external and internal environment.
A model of neutral diplomacy in a small country
Sabah is known as the “designer of modern Kuwait’s foreign policy” due to his rich experience and outstanding achievements in the field of diplomacy. His main diplomatic thought is neutralism and non-alignment. During his more than 40 years as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he carried out a series of diplomatic mediations and mediations. The first successful case was participating in the mediation of the armed conflict in Yemen from 1965 to 1966. Sabah invited the three leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to meet and finally reached a conciliation agreement.
Since then, Sabah participated in mediating the dispute between Bahrain and Iran in 1968, which led the two parties to submit the dispute to the United Nations, and ultimately promoted the independence and founding of Bahrain through a referendum; In 1969, Sabah participated in the mediation of the Iraq-Iran border in the Shatt al-Arab region. Disputes; participated in the armed conflict between King Hussein of Jordan and the PLO in 1970; participated in the mediation of the border conflict between Oman and Yemen in 1980; facilitated the peace talks between Baghdad and Tehran in 1983; faced the Arab world especially after the signing of the Camp David agreement. By unanimously imposing sanctions on Egypt, Sabah was able to resist pressure and oppose economic sanctions against Egypt, which fully demonstrated its independent diplomatic stance.
Sabah adhered to neutralism and actively promoted regional stability and peace in a series of efforts that enabled Kuwait to rapidly gain international and regional moral support after the invasion of Iraq in 1990. Finally, through diplomatic mediation, International and regional organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Gulf Cooperation Council unanimously pass resolutions to support and help Kuwait restore sovereignty.
In 2017, after the breakdown of diplomatic relations with Qatar broke out, Sabah unanimously tried to play the role of mediator, but unfortunately until his death, he still did not see an adequate solution to this crisis.
Pioneer of internal reform
While actively applying neutral diplomacy with the outside world, Nesabah has always been committed to building a unified national identity and social identity for the country. In Kuwait, where the Shiite population represents 30%, Sabah places particular emphasis on “eliminating the differences between sects and sects and establishing unity. The importance of the” country of Kuwait. “On June 26, 2015, after the bombing of Imam Sadik Mosque in Kuwait’s capital Sabah immediately sensed the scene of the accident and called on the Kuwaiti people to share in prosperity and distress, maintain unity, and oppose and condemn extremist religious forces.
In terms of domestic politics, Sabah approved the first monarchy constitution in the Gulf region during his presidency of parliament in 1963, which was subsequently used and imitated by many monarchy countries. Sabah is also committed to the political empowerment of women. In 1999, he ordered that women vote and be elected. However, due to obstruction by conservative forces, this decree came into effect only after a lapse of six years. In 2006, Kuwaiti women participated in Parliament for the first time. Elections. In 2009, the women of the 4 people won the elections and Kuwait welcomed female parliamentarians for the first time in history.
In September 2014, the United Nations awarded Sabah the title of “Human Rights Leader” for his outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes. He used the wisdom of his life to create Kuwait, the Pearl of the Gulf, and made him a well-deserved “Arab”. The most outstanding diplomat in the country ”.
(The author is Vice Dean of the Central Mediterranean Research Institute of Zhejiang University of International Studies and Executive Director of the Center for Arab Studies)
(Author: Cao smiled Editor: PositivePeriodic)
