The experience of Kuwait may have increased the anxiety of other gulf leaders about declaring their independence.
Even into the 1970s, Iran and Saudi Arabia continue to make claims on territory in Bahrain and the UAE, although by the end of 1971 those states are independent, and nothing comes of the claims.
Gulf leaders also face uncertainty about the form their states should take.
Should they all, with the exception of Oman, whose situation is different in that its treaty relationship with Britain does not guarantee its borders as do treaties of the other gulf states, band together in the largest entity possible? Or should they break up into nine separate states, the smallest of which has little territory, few people, and no oil?
