Arabia’s Anti-Colonial Hub: Kuwait and the Bahraini Nationalist Movement (1957–1966)

Between 1957 and 1966, dozens of nationalists exiled from Bahrain adopted Kuwait as a refuge and base for their campaign against British colonialism in their homeland. Their experience illustrates how Kuwait served as a hub for anti-colonial groups, particularly from the Arabian Peninsula. Joining a diverse Arab migrant community that nurtured movements such as the Palestinian Fatah and Dhufari revolutionaries, the Bahraini exiles benefited from Kuwait’s open and sympathetic environment and easy access to other Arab countries. Kuwait’s Bahraini exile community emerged with the arrival of activists from the Committee of National Union (CNU) in 1957. Longstanding ‘translocal’ networks linking them to Kuwait facilitated their acclimation. Influenced by Kuwait’s pan-Arab environment, some CNU exiles joined the Movement of Arab Nationalists (MAN), a cross-border group with great influence in Kuwait. In 1959, the MAN established a branch in Bahrain, which became the country’s foremost nationalist group. The Bahraini MAN retained Kuwait as a base, its leaders seeking refuge there in 1963. In 1965, Bahraini exiles and Kuwaiti allies effectively mobilized in support of the March Intifada, a mass anti-colonial uprising in Bahrain. Subsequently, British pressure and growing authoritarianism in Kuwait undermined the Bahraini nationalists’ position, leading to mass expulsions in 1966.