Unveiling Kuwait’s long-term development assistance to Yemen: a case study of sustained commitment

Moosa Elayah, Hasan Alawami, Ghanim Alnajjar and Karima Al-Hada’a

Third World Quarterly, 2025, vol. 46, issue 8, 852-873

Abstract: This article critically re-examines Kuwait’s development assistance to Yemen, challenging dominant narratives that frame Gulf aid as coercive, paternalistic, or narrowly political. Focusing on Kuwaiti support for Sana’a University and related institutions, it draws on semi-structured interviews with Yemeni stakeholders and analysis of official project data to evaluate the aid’s durability and impact. Findings reveal a distinctive assistance model grounded in religious obligation and a strategic, long-term developmental vision rather than immediate diplomatic leverage. Even during tense periods, notably the post-1990 Gulf War rupture, Kuwait preserved humanitarian channels and later resumed concessional finance without attaching policy conditions. Consistent sectoral engagement in education, public health, and basic infrastructure underscores an emphasis on institutional resilience over political influence. Beneficiary testimonies affirm the continuing value of these investments, especially for sustaining services amid conflict. By foregrounding the Yemen case, the study contests binary depictions of Arab aid as either self-serving or altruistic, proposing instead a nuanced reading of Gulf assistance as embedded in regionally specific logics of solidarity, stability, and statecraft. The analysis contributes to an emerging scholarship that seeks to move beyond conditionality frameworks and offers broader lessons for donors operating in fragile, politically sensitive contexts and adaptive amid rapidly changing environments.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2025.2514964

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