The Pre-Revolutionary Decade of Land Reform in Iraq

Abstract

Blessed with large and growing oil revenues, underutilization of land and water, and forward-looking development programs, postwar Iraq faced a promising future. Iraq's subsequent developmental efforts were heavily concentrated in the areas of engineering and physical works projects: dams, roads, industrial plants, schools, and irrigation systems. Relatively modest appropriations and efforts were also made on a land-settlement program. Despite the basic importance of the land-reform issue, commentators on Iraq have typically discussed the program with an uncritical recital of the bare official statistics or discounted it as insignificant or unsuccessful. But whether or not, or to what extent, the program was beneficial-these are questions deserving closer study.