The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and  of  and Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) in its combat phase, was a war waged by  from 35 nations led by the United States against  in response to Iraq's  arising from oil pricing and production disputes.

On 2 August 1990, the  invaded and occupied , which was met with international condemnation and brought immediate  by members of the . UK prime minister  and US President  deployed forces into Saudi Arabia, and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since . Most of the coalition's military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and  as leading contributors, in that order. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost.

The war marked the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network . The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board U.S.  during Operation Desert Storm.

The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991, continuing for five weeks. This was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a decisive victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait and advanced into Iraqi territory. The coalition ceased its advance and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the ground campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and areas on Saudi Arabia's border. Iraq launched  against  and coalition targets in Saudi Arabia.