The Impact of Psychological Factors on Foreign Policy Decisions Case Study: The Decision of Saddam Hussein to Invade Kuwait in 1990

Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVIII, No.4 Summer 2015 The Impact of Psychological Factors on Foreign Policy Decisions Case Study: The Decision of Saddam Hussein to Invade Kuwait in 1990 Faisal Mukhyat Abu Sulaib* Introduction It is difficult to explain foreign policy decisions based on only one factor when, in fact, there exists a group of factors that influence foreign policy decision-making processes. One of these influencing factors is the personal and psychological aspect of the foreign policy decision maker. This study attempts to analyze the effect of psychological factors on foreign policy decision making by focusing on the case study of Saddam Hussein’s decision to invade Kuwait in 1990. Statement of the Problem Saddam Hussein’s decision to invade Kuwait in 1990 is one of the most important foreign policy decisions that has led to significant geopolitical impacts in the regions of the Arabian Gulf and the Middle East. This decision affected not only Iraq and Kuwait, but also the entire region. In fact, it is difficult to say that the decision behind the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was a result of only domestic factors inside Iraq, or external factors that emerged in the surrounding region, or factors in the international system. This study assumes that the decision to invade Kuwait was also influenced by the personal and psychological characteristics of Saddam 65 *Faisal Abu Sulaib is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Kuwait. He obtained his PhD in political science from University of Manchester-UK in 2009 and MA from University of California- Riverside USA in 2003. 66 Hussein himself. This study specifically aims to analyze the influence of Saddam Hussein’s personal characteristics on his decision to invade Kuwait in August 1990. Significance of the Topic Most of the studies that analyzed the decision of Iraq to invade Kuwait, such as the study by Gregory Gause, III titled “Iraq’s decisions to go to war in 1980, 1990,” had concentrated their scope of analysis on the economic, political, strategic, and historical factors that led to the decision.1 Contrarily, this study attempts to look at the decision behind the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait from a different angle, namely, by analyzing this decision with respect to the personal and psychological factors of the decision maker, who was Saddam Hussein. Thus, the significance of this study is on the psychological factors of foreign policy decisions. Moreover, this study provides a valuable contribution to the subject of foreign policy analysis (FPA), particularly by discussing the influence of psychological factors on foreign policy decisions. This focus is helpful for understanding similar cases of foreign policy decisions. As Morton Deutsch and Catrina Kinnvall put it, “A well conceptualized case study will not only have relevance to the particular individual or episode being characterized, it will also have relevance for general, theoretical ideas, it should not only provide understanding of the case that was studied but also help us to understand other cases.”2 Research Method & Question This study seeks to analyze the influence of personality and psychological variables on key foreign policy decision makers, specifically by focusing on speeches and interviews. The research method of this study will rely on the approach of foreign policy decision-making analysis. One of the limitations of this method is that it is difficult to know the detailed information of the decision-making process within the inner circle that surrounds the key decision makers. However, this analysis will rely on documents, including books that were released and published about the Iraqi decision, as well as the writings and interviews of those who participated in the Iraqi foreign policy decision-making process during that time. 1 F. Gregory Gause III, “Iraq’s Decisions to Go to War, 1980 and 1990,” Middle East Journal 56 (2002): 47-70. 2 Morton Deutsch and Catarina Kinnvall, “What Is Political Psychology?,” in Political Psychology, ed. Kristin Monroe (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002), 24. After all of these years, particularly with the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq in 2003, some valuable information has been released in published books and documents. Further, this study will rely on the...