After World War II, there was an established new world order on the prohibition of the use of force against another state's territorial integrity enshrined in Article 1 and 2 of the United Nations Charter (UN Charter). However, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait directly challenged the new world order with complete disregard for international law. On 2nd August 1990, Iraqi forces successfully overwhelmed Kuwait’s defence allowing for a successful invasion. Subsequently, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), through resolution 660, condemned the invasion and demanded Iraqi troops' immediate withdrawal from Kuwait. To make Iraq comply, the UNSC imposed a worldwide trade ban on Iraq via resolution 661. Iraq’s response to the economic sanctions was formally annexing Kuwait by declaring it the 19th province of the Republic of Iraq on 8th August 1990. What ensued was a seven-month period of intensive diplomacy to mediate the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait. However, Iraq’s continued ignorance towards UN resolutions and diplomacy resulted in the UNSC passing resolution 678 authorizing the use of force. Resolution 678 was passed on 29th November 1990 and gave Iraq until 15th January 1991 to withdraw from Kuwait. If they failed to, UNSC authorized member States to take all necessary measures to restore international peace and security in the Middle East. Saddam Hussein’s ignorance of the 15th January deadline resulted in two weeks of armed conflict between Iraq and a U.S led UN coalition known commonly as Operation Desert Storm. The UN coalition deployed in the Gulf Air (Operation Desert Storm), land (Operation Desert Sabre) and naval forces of about 700,000 troops drawn from twenty-eight states. They engaged in a six-week military campaign driving the Iraqi armed forces out of Kuwait. Seven months after the Iraqi invasion, Kuwait’s government was restored to power and liberated. However, the invasion and annexation of Kuwait took most States and international organizations by surprise. Primarily because in the new era of prohibition of armed conflicts to uphold international peace and security, there was no legal basis for Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait. Therefore, the conflict must be analyzed against the background of Iraq's claims and justifications that led to the invasion on 2nd August.