Kuwait

Cradled between Saudi Arabia and Iraq in one of the most ancient and contested corners of the world, Kuwait has a certain cachet. It may be as oil-rich as other Gulf countries, and its architectural landscape as experimental and audacious, but it hasn't embraced glitz and glamour in the same way: perhaps it's the years lost to the Iraqi invasion and its aftermath, or maybe it's a conscious decision not to give in to commercialism.