Poet and Businessman

Leif Stenberg is the Dean of the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC). He is also a professor at AKU-ISMC and in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. From 2007 to 2017, he was the founding Director of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University, Sweden. Between 2010 and 2019, Professor Stenberg was the president of the Nordic Society of Middle Eastern Studies. Among his publications are The Islamization of Science. Four Muslim Positions Making an Islamic Modernity, 1996, Schaebler & Leif Stenberg (eds.), Globalization and Muslim World: Culture, Religion, and Modernity, 2004, Hooglund, Eric & Leif Stenberg (eds), Navigating Contemporary Iran. Challenging Economic, Social and Political Perceptions, 2012, Salamandra, Christa & Leif Stenberg (eds), Syria from Reform to Revolt Vol. II: Culture, Society and Religion, 2015, and Leif Stenberg and Philip Wood (eds), What is Islamic Studies? European and North American Approaches to a Contested Field, 2022.

‘Poet and Businessman provides a wonderful insight into the tremendous change that has gripped the Gulf region, and Kuwait in particular, over the past 70 years. The book is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the political and social changes in a country that only became independent in 1961. A significant addition to the existing literature.’ Dr Christian Koch, Director of Research, Gulf Research Center; ‘Stenberg offers an illuminating lens on the history of modern Kuwait in the life of the founder of one of the country’s most successful and influential family-owned holding companies. A resourceful entrepreneur and a keen advocate of Arabic poetry and culture, al-Babtain is older than Kuwait itself and his story exemplifies the role his generation of business magnates and philanthropists have had on the country’s path to a national identity and economic prosperity.’ Lisa Anderson, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; ‘This is an engaging and illuminating work on a period of history in the Gulf region that remains overlooked. A key aspect of Stenberg’s discussion is an analysis of Kuwait’s post-invasion transformations, shedding light on the hopes and struggles of its leadership and its people, citizens and residents, women and men. Al-Babtain’s career captures nuances of, and relationships between,Islam, Arabism, capitalism and culture, both state and popular.’ Dr Amal Ghazal, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and Simon Fraser University

• Acknowledgements1. THE STATE OF KUWAIT AND ABD AL-AZIZ SA‘UD AL-BABTAINAbd al-Aziz al-Babtain: businessman and poetIntroducing Kuwait, the life of al-Babtain and the al-Babtain FoundationThe Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and identity insecurityThe National Assembly and the politics of citizenship:gender, statelessness and tribal traditionsA second war in the Gulf 24 Studying Kuwait and Abd al-Aziz al-Babtain2. ARABS, TRIBES, THE DESERT AND OIL:ACKGROUND AND KEY THEMESThe notion of being ArabTribal history and the founding of KuwaitEscape from the NajdDesert, depression and downturnThe game-changing discovery of oil: the opportunity for entrepreneurship3. SETTING THE SCENE: THE FOUNDING OF MODERN KUWAITEarly years of the oil industry: political and economic changesProperty, the State, Islam and ArabismThe emergence of the State of Kuwait: from Sheikh Mubarak to Sheikh Abd AllahTransformed by wealth: changes for government and citizens alike4. KUWAIT ON THE WAY UP: THE WORLD OF AL-BABTAINA fertile business environmentThe financial services rushA society in flux: citizenship laws, limitations, difference and identityA loss of heritage? Kuwaiti culture and the diwaniyaCrafting Kuwaiti citizens: the rise of a welfare state for nationalsDeveloping healthcareFrom local to global mediaEducation: schooling modern Kuwaitis5. KUWAIT EXPERIENCING CHALLENGES: THE SUCCESS OF AL-BABTAIN1960s boom and 1970s chaos: the desire to diversify and industrializeSpeculation and Kuwait’s nouveau richeCrash and aftermathWar in the GulfA state on its knees, and an exodusThe international community and an end to the war6. CONTEMPORARY KUWAIT AND THE AL-BABTAIN FOUNDATIONDevelopments after the liberation of KuwaitEconomic recovery after the Gulf warsStriving to become a major financial centreThe al-Babtain Foundation: aid programmes and foreign policyKuwaiti politics and uprisings in the Middle EastPolitics, Islamists and the quest for democratizationDemography and Kuwait’s migrant workersWomen in Kuwaiti society: political participation7. ABD AL-AZIZ AL-BABTAIN: THINKING ABOUTA LIFE OF CONTINUITY AND CHANGEAbd al-Aziz, Kuwait and the first scholarshipsExpanding the al-Babtain FoundationThe library, changing ambitions and the “dialogue among civilizations”The al-Babtain Foundation and the mediaPromoting a culture of peace and influencing new generationsPoetry, Arab culture, Islam, identity politics and nationalism8. FINAL REFLECTIONSKUWAIT TIMELINEBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX