Kuwait, although geographically small, is oil rich and has the highest per capita income in the world. My involvement in this tiny Gulf state began in 1977 when I took up the challenge of unravelling a major claim on a project for the design and construction of two military air bases. Little did I know at the time that Kuwait and its defence facilities were destined to feature so highly in the international news media.

With a vast annual income generated from its oil reserves, Kuwait could afford to invest heavily in its infrastructure, as a consequence of which the construction industry flourished. Those were the boom days when an expatriate's salary was substantially greater than that available at home which, when coupled with a tax free status, made up for the restrictions imposed by the Arabic way of life.

The state has an ancient culture which stems from its Bedouin origins and it has a religion firmly rooted in Islam. As with any foreign culture, the expatriate is well advised to learn the essentials of how things work and to adhere to the rules no matter how alien they seem when compared to our own way of life. This can be difficult at times, but it makes the difference between success and failure when dealing with the Arab businessman.

I learned a severe and lasting lesson once by being seen not to obey the rules. This was after a fancy dress party which I attended as Wee Willie Winkle and my wife as Little Miss Muffett. On the way home in the early hours of the morning we were driven off the road and came to rest upside down on a roundabout.

My wife was taken to hospital and I was taken to the local police station where what seemed to be the entire Kuwait constabulary filtered in to see this Brit dressed in an Arab dishdasha slippers with pom-poms and a nightcap with a bell on the end. I was then questioned by the only available English speaking police officer who persisted in accusing me of drinking whisky. I denied it vehemently as I had in fact stuck to home made wine all evening. He eventually gave up but, to my dismay, insisted that I stay the night. Being a dry country there were no breathalysers and all ended well with my being fined for causing damage to one of the Emir's trees which the car had uprooted on its tour of the roundabout.
 
The working week for most expatriates was Saturday to Thursday. Most of the time was spent in the office in Kuwait City with periodic visits being made to the air base sites, both of which were some 100 kilometres into the desert. The rules that we never broke were that any journey should be made by two cars in case one broke down or suffered an accident and that we should always run through the check list that was displayed on a large sign at the start of the desert road. During mid summer the shade temperature can exceed 50 degrees Celsius and to venture into the desert without taking adequate precautions can prove fatal.

Contracts for major projects were normally based on the standard FIDIC form but invariably contained numerous particular conditions which confused rather than clarified the intent of the contract. As always this opens up loopholes which lead to differences of opinion between the parties and eventually gives rise to disputes.

The technical aspects of dealing with disputes are the same the world over; however , the approach required to successfully negotiate and resolve the matters differs with every culture. In the Middle East, to adopt a confrontational attitude or to hint that the opposition is incompetent would result in nothing short of an award at arbitration being required for any further payment. I always found that when a claim was rejected, for whatever reason, the best way forward was to give the opposition the opportunity to backtrack without losing face. This approach worked well for me and enabled the disputes with which I was involved to be settled amicably.

In 1979 1 left Kuwait to work firstly in the United Arab Emirates and then in the Antipodes before returning to Kuwait in 1988. During my 9 year absence things had changed; the city was much bigger and even more affluent but the regime had become far stricter. The differential between Kuwait and UK salaries had all but disappeared and it was only the income tax situation which made a Middle East posting a financially viable proposition.

Despite the difficulties we were able to enjoy both our business and our social lives and were never bored. There was no shortage of entertainment as Kuwait had exceptionally good restaurants, health clubs, cinemas etc. which complemented the expatriate's natural ability to generate his own amusement. Life was fun and no one had any inkling of the disaster that was soon to strike. Iraq had been a threat for many years but the general consensus of opinion was that it was too weak after its war with Iran to pose any serious threat for some time to come. Oh how wrong can one be?

Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2nd August 1990 whilst myself and my wife were on leave in the UK. We were the lucky ones as, although we lost all of our prize possessions, we escaped the fate that befell many of our friends who were used as human shields. Some of those friends returned to Kuwait after its liberation but found that it had changed so dramatically that their stay was short lived. We never returned.