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Historically, Kuwait was ruled by Ottoman leaders in what is now modern Iraq. However, in the 1890s and 1900s the British increased their influence in Kuwait and the Persian Gulf, reducing Ottoman influence in Kuwait and making it more independent. This came in the form of arrangements such as the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, and the primary goal was to prevent the Berlin-Baghdad Railway from gaining a terminus on the Persian Gulf. If such access were gained, Imperial Germany would have gained a means of bypassing the Suez Canal, as well as exporting petroleum from Mesopotamia and Persia. Keeping Germany out of Kuwait was so important that it has been identified as one of the events that may have contributed to the rise of tensions between the British Empire and Imperial Germany, and the outbreak of World War I.

Upon independence, the split between Iraq and Kuwait was formalized. Iraq later attempted to annex Kuwait, most famously in 1990, but also shortly after Kuwait gained independence in the 1960s. The latter effort was resolved without violence when the Royal Navy increased its deployment to the Persian Gulf during preparations for the invasion, causing Iraq to back down. Iraq later built a port at Umm Qasr, although tensions between Iraq and Iran over the Shatt al-Arab waterway resulted in poor relations between the two states, and helped contribute to the Iran-Iraq War.

Iraq's history since independence has been dominated by concerns over sea access, as well as irridentist claims on Kuwait and portions of Iran. Is there a way that Iraq might have been able to acquire Kuwait upon gaining independence, or perhaps after independence? Might this have reduced tensions between Iraq and its neighbors, or would gaining sea access and the sizable petroleum reserves of Kuwait (making Iraq a very close second to Saudi Arabia) have simply changed the nature of the rivalry for leadership of the Middle East?
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