King Abdul-Aziz and the Kuwait Conference, 1923-1924

Drawing on both Arabic sources and British Foreign Office archive material, the author traces the expansion and consolidation of the Saudi state from the early years of the twentieth century. This process led to a series of border disputes which the Kuwait Conference attempted, but ultimately failed, to solve. The book opens with a description of the establishment of the Sultanate of Najd and its Dependencies, and the incorporation of Riyadh, al-Hasa, Ha'il and 'Asir. This process of expansion inevitably led to a redefinition of borders and to boundary problems. Relations between Britain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Transjordan during the First World War are then discussed, in particular the contacts between Sherif Hussein of Mecca and McMahon, the British High Commissioner for Egypt. The relationship of the Sultanate of Najd with its neighbours is examined in the light of the positions adopted by Britain and the Ottoman Empire and as a backdrop to the Kuwait Conference. Finally, the author discusses both the preliminaries and the three stages of the conference, analysing the reasons for its failure. The book provides valuable back-ground material for all those who wish to understand the present-day state of Saudi Arabia and its relations with its neighbours.