| Summary: | By investigating the variations that affected the meaning of ‘nationality’ in the Gulf during the 20th century, this article aims at analysing the origin and the institutionalisation of the cleavages existing within the national Kuwaiti and Bahraini societies. It distinguishes between two kinds of conception: ‘nationality’ as understood by the British Empire in the sense of ethno‑cultural groups and ‘nationality’ as the juridical link between an individual and a state as theorised by the international law. Against this background, it shows that Kuwait and Bahrain have both opted for an ambiguous application of the concept: though filing the international system’s requirements, their nationality laws set up hierarchies between nationals, providing no mechanisms of integration between them. This, it is claimed, hampered the national identity building.
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