At Dubai Expo 2020, nation-states organized pavilions to showcase their countries’ culture, natural resources and achievements. Kuwait was no exception. It ran a lively pavilion whose outside portion featured a dancing bear mascot with sunglasses. The pavilion also gave away Kuwait-related merchandise to the crowd surrounding their outside stage. People waved the Kuwait flag to music and awaited the next distribution of free goods. Among these Kuwait-related goods, there were some that read “Free Kuwait.” This slogan could also be seen on the shirt of one of the people staffing the pavilion.

The [“Free Kuwait” campaign] (https://freekuwait.org.kw/mission.php) was orchestrated by the Kuwaiti government initially and taken up by Kuwaiti residents in exile to garner support and push the occupying Iraqi troops out of their nation from August 1990 to February 1991. The campaign in the United States was undertaken by the country’s largest Public Relations firm — Hill and Knowlton. More specifically, several grassroot Kuwaiti groups and communities came together to organize marches and rallies that would garner more foreign support and free Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. The official website of the campaign mainly covers the U.K. based activities aimed at the British public and Kuwaitis in England, such as the [“Stop the Atrocities”] (https://freekuwait.org.kw/introduction.php) march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square in December 1990.

While the coverage on the website is not a complete overview of the movement’s history, it provides insight into the activities of Kuwaitis around the globe, whose main objective was to bring international attention to the movement and the plight of stranded Kuwaitis. The “Free Kuwait” campaign was successful in shedding light on the Iraqi occupation, because it led to the [“Nayirah testimony”] (https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/15/opinion/deception-on-capitol-hill.html), where a 15-year old-girl testified before the United States Congressional Human Rights Caucus stating that Iraqi soldiers had taken babies out of incubators and left them to die. Her testimony was later cited as President Bush’s rationale to support Kuwait in the Gulf War. Later it was revealed that the testimony was not only false, but that the girl was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States.

Following the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq had the world’s fourth largest army. Kuwait had been accused of producing over the limit imposed by OPEC, which would have greatly affected the world’s oil dependent economies such as Iraq. This was part of the rationale that Iraq used to invade Kuwait. Iraq occupied Kuwait for a period of seven months.

Many countries were anxious about the potential repercussions of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, due to global oil production, the region’s power balance and whether Iraq would have a new target after subjugating Kuwait. As a result, the largest coalition of countries since World War II was formed. Of these 39 countries, 28 contributed troops — with the most notable being the US and the UK. After a mere 4 days, the joint forces succeeded in forcing Iraq to leave Kuwait.

Now that the Dubai 2020 Expo has ended, some of the pavillions will be demolished in order to create District 2020 and the same sight will never be visible again, but some of the visitors who happened to catch a glimpse of the phrase “Free Kuwait” at the Kuwait’s Pavillion in the Sustainability area may still be left with the question: What is the relevance of the “Free Kuwait” movement in 2022?

Post-Kuwaiti liberation, younger generations now use this phrase symbolically, to signify their freedom and independence. It is a “new culture”, where Kuwaiti citizens can be independent and live in a free economy with policies that aim to boost business freedom. Seeing “Free Kuwait” merchandise at Expo raised important questions, but what was once a campaign created to garner support, is now a symbol of Kuwaiti identity.