Micron Document
Kuwait (KWT)

Country Risk Assessment v2.3 - assessed 2026-09-08 - skew: negative


Flags

- Live-data refresh (2026-09-08): discovery-first sweep of the 2026-09-03 -> 09-08 window (six parallel regional sweeps, all source rating central), with state, belligerent, single-chain and recirculated claims excluded or direction-only. The shared WebSearch budget was exhausted mid-run and the Asia-Pacific and global-macro sweeps fell back to self-hosted SearXNG, so Asia-Pacific coverage is a known gap this pass. Dominant arc: the US-Iran war moved decisively to sea. Iran fired ballistic missiles at two US warships near Hormuz and the US struck three Iranian oil tankers in reply, Iran's Artesh hit al-Minhad air base in the UAE and Ahmad al-Jaber in Kuwait, and Tehran announced it will declare a Gulf and Gulf-of-Oman exclusion zone within days while saying an Iran-Oman corridor deal awaits signature. Second arc: the global rate cycle turned to tightening on war-driven energy. Fed funds futures priced roughly a 58% chance of a September HIKE with PCE sticky at 3.7% and WTI back above $90, and the ECB is expected to hike to 2.50% on Sept 10 with euro-area August inflation at 3.3% on energy. Third arc: institutions under strain in large democracies. Brazil's Supreme Court turned on itself as police intercepts from the Banco Master fraud probe implicated Justice Moraes, who led the Bolsonaro prosecution, and the AfD took 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt, the first outright far-right state win in Germany since WWII. The US peace push on Ukraine produced a 72-hour capital-strike pause and an IAEA-brokered repair ceasefire at Zaporizhzhia, which had been running on emergency diesel since Aug 20, but no deal. CORRECTION: Niger's Aug 28-29 coup attempt, missed entirely by the 09-03 pass, is booked late here. Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-09-03): discovery-first sweep of the 2026-08-25 -> 09-03 window (six parallel regional sweeps, all source rating central), triangulated across multilateral bodies and diverse independent press, with state, belligerent, single-chain and recirculated claims excluded or direction-only. Dominant arc: the US-Iran war RESUMED and WIDENED after the Aug 25 exit-diplomacy moment. Iran and Oman finalized a Hormuz corridor framework (Aug 26, inbound via Iranian waters, outbound via Omani, revenue-sharing, a 30-60 day mine-clearing programme), then the US struck missile launchers on Larak Island (Aug 31) and Iran retaliated across FIVE countries at once, hitting US-linked bases in Jordan (Camp Titin, Prince Hassan), Bahrain (Sheikh Isa), Kuwait (Ali al-Salem) and Iraq (Erbil). A US strike hit a wedding at Kuhestak, Iran alleged a war crime at the UN, and Iran struck the Saudi supertanker Sidr in Hormuz, killing two Filipino sailors. Trump claimed 'almost total control' of the strait, floated renaming it, and told Iranians to rise up against their leadership. The rial hit a fresh record past 2.1 million per dollar and Reuters reported the blockade achieving what sanctions never did, with exports stalled outright. Second arc: a global long-bond rout deepened into September. Japan's 10Y JGB crossed 3% for the first time in 30 years with the 30Y at a record 4.18% and the yen at 160; France sold 10Y OATs at 4.23%, the highest since 2008, with debt at 117.5% of GDP; UK gilt yields hit a 19-year high in the new Burnham government's first Commons week; the US crossed $40 trillion in debt and doubled its long-end buyback ceiling. Third arc: catastrophe and consolidation elsewhere. A glacier-collapse flood on the Nepal-Tibet border killed 1,252 by Sept 3, passing the 2015 earthquake toll, with thousands missing. DRC's Ebola outbreak reached 3,007 deaths and 6,186 cases across six provinces at a 48.6% fatality rate, still expanding. Nicaragua's congress barred opposition parties from elections and extended the presidential term, drawing a near-unanimous OAS rebuke; Zimbabwe swore in senators and appointed 14 judges under a contested constitutional amendment; Zambia's Hichilema took a second term amid a disputed count and opposition arrests. Syria's SDF dissolved into the national military. Indonesia closed its central-bank vacuum. TRAPS CAUGHT and excluded: Peru's February 'Chifagate' removal, France's October-2025 Lecornu resignation, a 2020 Belarus protest piece, a 2025 DRC Uvira piece, a 2019 Zimbabwe crackdown piece, pre-window Cuba, and a FOURTH clean Thailand-Cambodia verification. CORRECTION: Serbia's Aug 20 snap-election announcement, missed by the 08-25 pass, is booked late. Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-08-25): discovery-first sweep of the 2026-08-14 -> 08-25 window (six parallel regional sweeps, all source rating central; WebSearch budget exhausted mid-pass, central verification via self-hosted SearXNG + targeted fetches), triangulated across multilateral bodies and diverse independent press, with state, belligerent, single-chain and recirculated claims excluded or direction-only. Dominant arc: the Iran war entered an economic-strangulation phase even as exit diplomacy advanced. The US launched the global secondary-sanctions campaign 'Operation Economic Outcast' (Aug 24, 60+ designations, all-sector scope); Iran's crude exports effectively halted (Kharg Island berths empty since July 31, satellite-verified; China-bound imports ~823k -> ~534k bpd); the rial crossed 2 million per dollar; Iran fired its first ballistic missiles toward the UAE (Aug 18) and the UAE, Iran's second-largest trade partner, cut ALL trade indefinitely (Aug 19). Yet no US strike on Iranian soil was confirmed in-window and Iran-Oman Hormuz-corridor talks reached joint-statement drafting in Tehran (Aug 25). A global long-bond rout (Aug 18) set multi-decade records (UK 50Y 5.392%; JGB 10Y highest since 1996); the US Treasury doubled long-end buybacks (Aug 19), the Fed-independence fight reopened (Cook removal deadline Aug 26), and DXY hit a 3-month low with gold at a 3-month high. US-Canada trade talks collapsed (Aug 21), first-ever Section 338 tariffs took effect (Aug 22), and Canada announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation (eff. Sept 8). Ukrainian strikes took >90% of Russia's Black Sea grain export capacity offline and Russian inflation crossed 10%. DRC Ebola deaths reached 2,642 (PHEIC reaffirmed) while Geneva produced an M23 peace-talks roadmap. Pakistan's KP floods killed 368 in five days and Islamabad defied a Supreme Court order on Imran Khan. Venezuela freed 131 political prisoners. TRAPS CAUGHT and excluded: the Sept-2025 Libya 'Sorman/Zawiya clashes' recirculation, Ghana's pre-window IMF completion run as fresh, Cuba's pre-window Aug 2-3 blackout, and a third clean Thailand-Cambodia verification (ceasefire holds, ASEAN observers verifying). CORRECTION: Serbia's June 27-30 Vucic resignation-pledge arc, missed while Serbia went unrefreshed since 05-28, is booked late as a note. Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-08-14): discovery-first sweep of the 2026-07-30 -> 08-14 window (six parallel regional sweeps, all source rating central), triangulated across multilateral bodies and diverse independent press, with state, belligerent, single-chain and disinfo-network claims excluded or direction-only. Dominant arc: the Iran war paused without ending - no confirmed US strike on Iranian soil after Aug 1 (13 nights through Aug 12) while Oman-mediated Hormuz talks agreed safe-corridor coordinates with the fee rate still contested - but the strait stayed effectively closed (1 transit Aug 9 vs ~73/day), CENTCOM enforced the blockade kinetically, the Houthis hit Mocha in the worst Yemen escalation since the 2022 truce, and Saudi Red Sea exports collapsed ~90% with a compensating Sumed surge. Ukraine's deep strikes reached ~17% of Russian refining and halted Novorossiysk's grain terminals; Russia's H1 deficit hit ~6T rubles with the CBR cutting into rising inflation. The US opened a two-front trade escalation: first-ever Section 338 tariffs (50% on ~$20B of Canadian goods incl USMCA-origin, effective Aug 19) plus Section 301 tariffs on 60+ partners covering 99.4% of imports. The 30Y Treasury auctioned at ~5.24%, highest since 2001; central banks bought a record 288.9t of gold in Q2. DRC Ebola deaths jumped 1,487 -> 2,128 across six provinces. DC's National Guard deployment was extended through 2029. Colombia inaugurated de la Espriella in an orderly transfer; Indonesia nominated a BI insider and the rupiah recovered; North Korea resumed missile tests. TRAPS CAUGHT and excluded: the 2025 Katsina mosque attack, the pre-capture Maduro militia story, and the ended Jan-May Iran blackout, all recirculating as current; the news-pravda.com disinfo network is excluded entirely. Thailand-Cambodia verified clean: no kinetic event, ceasefire holds, diplomatic freeze continues. Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-07-30): discovery-first sweep of the 2026-07-21 -> 07-30 window (six parallel regional sweeps, all source rating central), triangulated across multilateral bodies and diverse independent press, with state, belligerent and single-source claims excluded or direction-only. Dominant arc: the 10-day ceasefire proposal was never accepted - a de facto US strike pause (July 25-29, Oman presenting a Gulf-backed Hormuz fee mechanism, Brent $94 -> $86) collapsed and CENTCOM resumed heavy strikes on Iran overnight July 29-30 (Brent back to $90.74). The war widened: a drone set fires in Egypt's Damietta port (first strike on Egyptian soil), the US and Saudi Arabia jointly struck militias inside Iraq, the Houthis set Aramco's Jizan refinery ablaze while enforcing their blockade of Saudi ports, and Iran publicly hanged two protesters. Elsewhere: a hawkish Fed hold with three dissents FOR a hike sent the Dow down 1,153 and the 30-year Treasury to its highest since 2007; the EU adopted its 21st Russia package freezing the oil price cap at $44.10 for a year; a Russian Kh-101 crashed 100 km inside Poland with Warsaw declining to invoke Article 4; DRC Ebola deaths jumped from 930 to 1,487 in six days; Tunisia's and Libya's blackout crises turned into anti-government mobilization; Bank Indonesia's governor resigned in a central-bank-independence shock; Ghana exited high debt distress after 13 years; Peru completed a contested but on-schedule transfer of power. CORRECTIONS: the Thailand-Cambodia 'fresh clashes' carry-forward was again misdated 2025 coverage (ceasefire holds; the real story is diplomatic hardening), and Mali's 07-20 'Anefis reversal' framing is corrected (the army retook Anefis July 10; the road remains insecure). Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-07-21): discovery-first sweep since the 2026-07-20 pass (tight 1-day window; most scores held), triangulated across multilateral bodies + diverse independent press, run largely on the self-hosted lab search after the metered cap was exhausted, with the two highest-impact items hand-verified. Dominant arc: the US-Iran war deepened a second day - a 10th consecutive night of US strikes, the two Jordan-base US fatalities identified (toll ~17), Iran hitting Kuwait's power/desalination plant a 4th straight day (water rationing in 50C heat) and striking a Kuwaiti-flagged tanker in Hormuz, and the Houthi blockade on Saudi Arabia moving from declaration to ENFORCEMENT (Saudi tankers bound for China/India U-turned, refiners rerouting via Suez) - BUT the positive-skew exit appeared, as Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan conveyed a 10-day ceasefire proposal to Tehran, so Iran's conflict score holds off the floor. Brent topped $90. Elsewhere: a US federal judge ordered the DC National Guard deployment ENDED, reversing the 2029 pre-commitment (US rule_of_law eased, appeal pending), while Trump imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods (US + Canada trade worsened); Ukraine saw a 5th day of rare wartime protests over Defense Minister Fedorov's dismissal (political_stability down); Moldova's parliament approved the Tofan government (vacancy resolved); the UK's new PM sacked his chancellor and gilt yields hit a 2-month high (fiscal down); DR Congo's Ebola outbreak passed 930 deaths with health workers striking (healthcare to the floor). CORRECTION: the Thailand-Cambodia 'fresh clashes' item flagged last pass was misdated 2025 coverage - the real in-window state is a diplomatic stalemate, not combat, and is not scored. Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-07-20): discovery-first news sweep since the 2026-07-14 pass across the whole canon, triangulated across multilateral bodies + diverse independent press (state-self-reported data excluded, used only for direction; confidence set from corroboration). Dominant arc: the US-Iran war DEEPENED rather than broke pattern - the US naval blockade of Iranian ports held all window, OFAC's wind-down GL X1 EXPIRED July 17 (full Iran oil sanctions restored), the US combat death toll rose to 17 (430+ wounded) after Iran hit Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti air base July 17, and the US ran a ninth consecutive night of strikes (incl. the Darkhovin nuclear-plant site, IAEA reviewing). Iran's retaliation crossed a threshold: it struck Kuwait's power + desalination plant twice (first civilian-infrastructure targeting) and Iraqi Kurdistan oil fields (-140-150k bpd), and on July 20 the Houthis opened a new front with a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia (ending the 2022 truce). Brent ran to ~$88-90; Hormuz war-risk hull premiums held at 3-10% of value. Secondary: the EU FROZE the $44.10 Russia oil cap for one week to July 23 (the prior pass's lapse risk did NOT materialize - held, not scored as relief) with the 21st sanctions package still stalled (a narrow Kyiv-strike mini-package adopted July 17 instead); Russia's MOEX hit a 17-week losing streak (worst since 1997), the deficit overshot plan by ~1T rubles and the ruble slid ~8%/mo to ~78.6; Ukraine's Kerch Strait / Don-Azov shipping halt PERSISTED with no reopening as Russia hit Kyiv with a 41-missile barrage July 19; the Poland-Ukraine White Eagle rift DE-ESCALATED (Zelensky opened SBU archives July 17, Tusk welcomed it); Andy Burnham became UK PM July 20 (7th in a decade but a clean handover, dropped digital ID); Israel's Knesset dissolved on schedule July 17 (Oct 27 elections) after a judicial-oversight/media legislative blitz; China's Q2 GDP printed 4.3% (weakest since 2022); India's rupee broke past its defense band to ~96.4; deadly monsoon flooding hit Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal; Nicaragua's Ortega declared no more elections; Cuba logged its 5th total grid collapse of 2026; Venezuela's quake toll passed 5,200; DRC's Ebola became the fastest-growing month-on-month; Mali's JNIM/FLA reversed the Anefis gain; Morocco released journalist Ali Lmrabet; a M7.4 quake struck the Mexico-Guatemala border. Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-07-14): discovery-first news sweep since the 2026-07-11 pass across the whole canon, triangulated across multilateral bodies + diverse independent press (state-self-reported data excluded, used only for direction; confidence set from corroboration). Dominant arc: the US-Iran ceasefire cycle BROKE PATTERN into the war's largest escalation - a third consecutive night of US strikes across Iran, Iranian retaliation on six Gulf/Levant states (Al Udeid struck; two UAE-flagged tankers hit in Omani waters, one sailor killed) and on US facilities in Bahrain/Kuwait, and a reinstated US naval blockade of Iranian ports (effective July 14) plus a proposed 20% Hormuz transit toll the UN IMO calls legally baseless; Brent jumped ~9% to ~$86 and Hormuz traffic virtually halted (war-risk ~5% of hull). Iran conflict near -8 -> -9 (not floored; talks nominally alive, positive skew retained) and sanctions -9 -> -10 (blockade = maximal isolation); Gulf conflict/trade re-priced across the GCC + Jordan; the US moves as a belligerent (conflict near -4 -> -5) with alliance reliability -7 -> -8 after renewed Greenland-annexation rhetoric + a threatened troop pull-out from Europe. Secondary: EU accession Cluster 6 FORMALLY OPENED for Ukraine + Moldova July 14 alongside the 37-leader Paris coalition summit (SAMP/T + 16 Rafale), but the EU's 21st Russia sanctions package FAILED July 13 (Greek LNG + Austrian Raiffeisen objections) with the $44.10 oil cap set to lapse (not scored as lapsed); Russia halted Kerch Strait + Don-Azov Canal shipping under Ukraine's Azov drone campaign while ~350 drones hit the Moscow region and the 5-month deficit passed 6T rubles; a Poland-Ukraine rift (White Eagle affair) opened; Colombia's transition rupture escalated to the inauguration venue itself; Venezuela's Article-233 180-day cap passed unmet (quake toll past 4,490); US June CPI 3.5% y/y (BLS partially-entangled, market-corroborated) as the DC National Guard deployment was extended through 2029; Pakistan's Balochistan wave killed 42+; Vanke's board passed to Shenzhen state control; North Korea fired ~10 ballistic missiles; South Africa's deportations doubled to 53,449; DRC's Ebola outbreak became the 3rd-largest on record; Bukele was proclaimed a 2027 candidate under indefinite-reelection rules; Jamaica's homicides fell 22%. Notes mark what moved.

- Live-data refresh (2026-06-03): news pull since the 2026-05-28 pass, triangulated across multilateral bodies + diverse independent press (state-self-reported data excluded; Iran's Hormuz-closure claims sourced to Tasnim are treated as regime intent, not verified action). A few late-May items not captured in the prior pass are flagged in-note. Notes mark what moved.

- Generated 2026-05-28 under v2.0: governance/rights/politics rebuilt from independent sources (IMF Art IV 2025, World Bank, Freedom House, RSF, HRW, TI, Carnegie); Kuwaiti state media EXCLUDED there, with economic figures admitted only via IMF/rating-agency validation.

- Governance regression: the emir suspended parliament in 2024 under a multi-year constitutional review. Migrant-majority reality: citizens are a ~30% minority and a large stateless 'Bidoon' population faces abuse.

- Standout features: one of the world's largest sovereign funds and very low crime, against near-total oil dependence, a 2024 governance regression, and extreme heat/water scarcity.

- Recalibrated 2026-05-29 for the 2026 Iran war (Operation Epic Fury, US+Israel vs Iran from 28 Feb) and the Strait of Hormuz closure: blockade of ~1/5 of world oil+LNG, attacks/threats on Gulf desalination (water security), and the global energy shock. The two-week 8 Apr ceasefire collapsed by late May - the US renewed strikes on Iran ~25-26 May (Trump convened Camp David) and the war resumed, with Hormuz still blockaded. (Reuters; BBC; NYT; CNN; ISW; Al Jazeera; CSIS; Wikipedia)

- civil_military_relations carries a v2.3 provisional baseline scored from coup history and military-in-politics status. It has not been through a full source-disciplined pass and its confidence is set low to reflect that.

Transparency & confidence ceiling

Tier: opaque - every composite below is confidence-capped at 0.60 (TIER_CAP.opaque).

The state controls the information environment, so scores rest on external proxies and carry a capped, lower confidence. The read may be flattered by what cannot be seen.


Economic

A vast sovereign-wealth buffer and sound banks, against near-total oil dependence and a basket-peg loss of monetary autonomy. (skew: positive)

┌────────────────────────────────┬────────┬──────┬──────┬───────┬──────┐
│ Sub-factor │ Weight │ Conf │ Near │ Mid │ Long │
├────────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────┼──────┼───────┼──────┤
│ Fiscal State │ 0.22 │ 85% │ -3.0 │ 0.0 │ +3.0 │
│ Monetary Independence │ 0.22 │ 85% │ -3.0 │ -3.0 │ -3.0 │
│ Reserve Currency Intl Monetary │ 0.16 │ 75% │ +1.0 │ +1.0 │ +1.0 │
│ Inflation │ 0.13 │ 85% │ +5.0 │ +5.0 │ +5.0 │
│ Banking Stability │ 0.10 │ 82% │ +6.0 │ +6.0 │ +6.0 │
│ Trade Actions Capacity │ 0.17 │ 80% │ -8.0 │ -6.50 │ -5.0 │
└────────────────────────────────┴────────┴──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┘

Fiscal State - Huge reserves cushion solvency, but the Hormuz shutdown halts the oil revenue the budget runs on. (IMF)

Monetary Independence - An undisclosed-basket peg means essentially no autonomous policy, but durable fund-backed stability - a mild-negative trade-off. (IMF; CBK)

Reserve Currency Intl Monetary - Not a reserve currency, but peg stability and the sovereign fund's global footprint warrant a notch up. (IMF)

Inflation - Low and easing - a peg strength. (IMF 2025 Art IV)

Banking Stability - Sound, well-capitalised, and sovereign-backed (high investment-grade ratings). (Moody's; S&P)

Trade Actions Capacity - Almost entirely Hormuz-dependent for crude exports with no bypass pipeline; a sustained largely-shut strait directly suppresses export volumes and fiscal revenue (Bloomberg). Near held at -8 (floor); long -4 -> -5; confidence up.

Category composite by horizon (categoryComposite, confidence-capped by transparency tier):

┌─────────┬─────────────────┬────────────┐
│ Horizon │ Composite score │ Confidence │
├─────────┼─────────────────┼────────────┤
│ near │ -1.27 │ 60% │
│ mid │ -0.36 │ 60% │
│ long │ +0.56 │ 60% │
└─────────┴─────────────────┴────────────┘

Institutional

Oil-funded delivery, against a 2024 power concentration and a declining press. (skew: negative)

┌──────────────────────────┬────────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┐
│ Sub-factor │ Weight │ Conf │ Near │ Mid │ Long │
├──────────────────────────┼────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┤
│ Rule Of Law │ 0.31 │ 80% │ -4.0 │ -4.0 │ -4.0 │
│ Statistical Integrity │ 0.22 │ 70% │ +1.0 │ +1.0 │ +1.0 │
│ Civil Service Capacity │ 0.22 │ 72% │ +3.0 │ +3.0 │ +3.0 │
│ Press Freedom │ 0.13 │ 85% │ -6.0 │ -6.0 │ -6.0 │
│ Civil-Military Relations │ 0.12 │ 50% │ -4.0 │ -4.0 │ -4.0 │
└──────────────────────────┴────────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘

Rule Of Law - A quasi-absolute monarchy; the emir suspended parliament and key constitutional articles in 2024, concentrating power. (Carnegie; TI)

Statistical Integrity - Economic data is IMF-validated; governance data is opaque. (IMF)

Civil Service Capacity - Oil-funded and functional but bloated and citizen-employment-driven, slowing delivery. (World Bank; IMF)

Press Freedom - Once the Gulf's freest, now declining, with national-security prosecutions of critics post-suspension. (RSF; Freedom House 2025)

Civil-Military Relations - The armed forces are an instrument of a ruling family. Command appointments follow the succession line. No independent oversight body exists.

Category composite by horizon (categoryComposite, confidence-capped by transparency tier):

┌─────────┬─────────────────┬────────────┐
│ Horizon │ Composite score │ Confidence │
├─────────┼─────────────────┼────────────┤
│ near │ -1.58 │ 59% │
│ mid │ -1.58 │ 59% │
│ long │ -1.58 │ 59% │
└─────────┴─────────────────┴────────────┘

Political & Social

Wealthy and orderly, against a governance regression, restricted liberties, and a citizen-minority structure. (skew: negative)

┌────────────────────────┬────────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┐
│ Sub-factor │ Weight │ Conf │ Near │ Mid │ Long │
├────────────────────────┼────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┤
│ Political Stability │ 0.30 │ 75% │ -1.0 │ -2.0 │ -3.0 │
│ Civil Liberties │ 0.20 │ 85% │ -6.0 │ -6.0 │ -6.0 │
│ Treatment Non Citizens │ 0.25 │ 80% │ -3.0 │ -3.0 │ -3.0 │
│ Social Cohesion │ 0.15 │ 65% │ +2.0 │ +2.0 │ +2.0 │
│ Demographics │ 0.10 │ 60% │ 0.0 │ 0.0 │ 0.0 │
└────────────────────────┴────────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘

Political Stability - Wealthy and orderly, but the 2024 parliamentary suspension plus decades of executive-legislative gridlock signal a governance regression. (Carnegie)

Civil Liberties - Restricted and tightening post-2024, with speech prosecutions. (Freedom House 2025; HRW)

Treatment Non Citizens - Easy employer-sponsored residency and no income tax, but citizens are a ~30% minority under kafala-legacy controls with no citizenship path, plus a large stateless 'Bidoon' population. (HRW 2025)

Social Cohesion - Orderly and low-crime, but with a structural citizen/non-citizen cleavage. (comparative)

Demographics - A small young citizen base atop a migrant-majority workforce. (World Bank)

Category composite by horizon (categoryComposite, confidence-capped by transparency tier):

┌─────────┬─────────────────┬────────────┐
│ Horizon │ Composite score │ Confidence │
├─────────┼─────────────────┼────────────┤
│ near │ -1.95 │ 60% │
│ mid │ -2.25 │ 60% │
│ long │ -2.55 │ 60% │
└─────────┴─────────────────┴────────────┘

Geopolitical

A close US ally with an open account, against Gulf/Hormuz exposure. (skew: symmetric)

┌────────────────────────────┬────────┬──────┬───────┬──────┬──────┐
│ Sub-factor │ Weight │ Conf │ Near │ Mid │ Long │
├────────────────────────────┼────────┼──────┼───────┼──────┼──────┤
│ Alliance Reliability │ 0.40 │ 80% │ +6.0 │ +6.0 │ +6.0 │
│ Conflict Involvement │ 0.35 │ 86% │ -10.0 │ -7.0 │ -4.0 │
│ Sanctions Capital Controls │ 0.25 │ 80% │ +5.0 │ +5.0 │ +5.0 │
└────────────────────────────┴────────┴──────┴───────┴──────┴──────┘

Alliance Reliability - A close US ally (a major non-NATO ally) and GCC-backed. (US State Dept)

Conflict Involvement - HELD at the -10 near-term floor, confidence 0.84 -> 0.86: Iran's Artesh struck Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, hitting satellite communications, warehouses and aircraft hangars (ISW, Sept 3), the second consecutive window in which Kuwaiti territory was hit after Ali al-Salem. The score cannot go lower so the corroboration raises confidence instead. Kuwait's own army statement that it repelled the attack is a state military reporting its own success and is NOT used.

Sanctions Capital Controls - Open and unsanctioned. (IMF; State Dept)

Category composite by horizon (categoryComposite, confidence-capped by transparency tier):

┌─────────┬─────────────────┬────────────┐
│ Horizon │ Composite score │ Confidence │
├─────────┼─────────────────┼────────────┤
│ near │ +0.15 │ 60% │
│ mid │ +1.20 │ 60% │
│ long │ +2.25 │ 60% │
└─────────┴─────────────────┴────────────┘

Physical & Practical

Good healthcare and very low crime, against extreme heat and water scarcity. (skew: negative)

┌────────────────────┬────────┬──────┬──────┬───────┬──────┐
│ Sub-factor │ Weight │ Conf │ Near │ Mid │ Long │
├────────────────────┼────────┼──────┼──────┼───────┼──────┤
│ Climate │ 0.20 │ 80% │ -4.0 │ -5.50 │ -7.0 │
│ Healthcare │ 0.30 │ 72% │ +5.0 │ +5.0 │ +5.0 │
│ Infrastructure │ 0.20 │ 78% │ -6.0 │ -1.50 │ +3.0 │
│ Crime Safety │ 0.15 │ 75% │ +7.0 │ +7.0 │ +7.0 │
│ Disaster Insurance │ 0.15 │ 60% │ +2.0 │ +2.0 │ +2.0 │
└────────────────────┴────────┴──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┘

Climate - Among the hottest inhabited places - near-unliveable wet-bulb heat by mid-century, dust, desal-dependent water, with extreme wealth/AC offset. (IPCC AR6; WB)

Healthcare - Good and well-funded. (World Bank)

Infrastructure - Worsened near -5 -> -6: civilian flights were disrupted and diverted during the Sept 2 strike wave, layered on the power and desalination damage already booked. Long held +3.

Crime Safety - Very low crime - a clear strength. (comparative)

Disaster Insurance - Low natural-catastrophe exposure aside from heat and water stress. (hazard context)

Category composite by horizon (categoryComposite, confidence-capped by transparency tier):

┌─────────┬─────────────────┬────────────┐
│ Horizon │ Composite score │ Confidence │
├─────────┼─────────────────┼────────────┤
│ near │ +0.85 │ 60% │
│ mid │ +1.45 │ 60% │
│ long │ +2.05 │ 60% │
└─────────┴─────────────────┴────────────┘

Decisions

Confidence-weighted composite of every category above (decisionComposite), at each decision's native horizon (HORIZON_BY_DECISION), with the threshold reading (readingFor).

┌──────────┬─────────┬───────┬────────────┬─────────┐
│ Decision │ Horizon │ Score │ Confidence │ Reading │
├──────────┼─────────┼───────┼────────────┼─────────┤
│ Living │ long │ -0.81 │ 60% │ mixed
│ Assets │ mid │ -0.43 │ 60% │ mixed
│ Currency │ near │ -1.15 │ 60% │ mixed
└──────────┴─────────┴───────┴────────────┴─────────┘

Same weighting projected across all three horizons (near 1-3y, mid 3-7y, long 5-10y):

┌──────────┬───────┬───────┬───────┐
│ Decision │ Near │ Mid │ Long │
├──────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│ Living │ -1.19 │ -1.0 │ -0.81 │
│ Assets │ -0.99 │ -0.43 │ +0.13 │
│ Currency │ -1.15 │ -0.46 │ +0.24 │
└──────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘