At the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, Iraq was in significant debt. Saddam coveted Kuwait's vast oil revenues and considered using his seasoned army to get them. He presumed that there would be little resistance to an invasion - a dreadful miscalculation. When Iraqi forces poured into Kuwait, much of the world united against them. The First Gulf War opened a new chapter in the region's politics, bringing together the Arab states and the Western world.