MODERNIZATION AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT. THE CASE OF A CAPITAL-SURPLUS COUNTRY: KUWAIT

This study deals with the problem of modernization and development in a Third World country: Kuwait. The main thesis of the study is that Kuwait, like other Third World countries, has witnessed a process of modernization rather than a process of development. On the contrary, a process of underdevelopment has accompained its modernization. This thesis is discussed through a detailed case study of the transformation of the Kuwaiti socio-economic system over a period of thirty years. Kuwait is not a typical Third World country. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is a thinly populated capital-producing country with severe labor shortages and huge capital surpluses. The major focus of the analysis is on the kind of modernization and development that occurred under this rare condition. The whole process of transformation is exposed through an analysis of manpower development. Manpower, or labor, is seen both as the source and bottleneck of any genuine development in the less developed countries. The case of Kuwaiti modernization and development is analyzed from a political economy perspective, whereby the role of social and political variables in social change is emphasized. Finally, the transformation of Kuwait is viewed within the larger international economic order. The role of external political and economic factors in shaping Kuwait's modernization and development is discussed.