Veils in the Vanguard: Insights of an American Ambassador's Wife in Kuwait

Miniskirts and big hair were once common in the Middle East. True, they went out of style 40 years ago, but what happened to wearing western styles in public? Catherine Raia Silliman took this question on as soon as she arrived in Kuwait as wife of the U.S. Ambassador. She met women across the political spectrum and discovered that the pull and tug between conservatives and liberals in the Gulf is alive and well. In 21st Century Kuwait, women on both sides are going to have a much larger say in how things turn out and it may not be what we in the West expect.