post-Saddam Era Research Articles

The Iraqi Ba'ath Archives: Collective Memory Loss and Authoritarian Nostalgia in the Post-Saddam Era

Abstract This article analyzes how the seizure of the Ba'ath archives from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 influenced the country's memory landscape and rise in pro-Ba'ath authoritarian nostalgia (hanin). Literature on the Ba'ath archives has focused on the ethics of their removal, custodianship, and laws governing war archives. However, there has been virtually no literature analyzing the long-term consequences of this removal on Iraqi collective memory or examining Ba'ath nostalgia in a larger dialogue about Iraqi archives. Has the removal of the Ba'ath records distorted Iraq's post-regime memory landscape, and is this a factor in the rise of authoritarian nostalgia? By reviewing existing literature on archives and collective memory, examining instances of Ba'ath nostalgia in Iraq, exploring effects of de-Ba'athification on the education system, and comparing Iraq's situation to South Africa, this article will contemplate the effects of archives loss on Iraqi memory distortion and authoritarian nostalgia.

Homeland Calling: Kurdish Diaspora and State-building in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in the Post-Saddam Era

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has regional autonomy within Iraq and it has been undergoing institution- and state-building for the last decade. The Kurdish diaspora has played a major role in this process by providing vital assistance to reconstruction and development efforts. This article examines the interactions between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its diaspora by focusing on the diaspora engagement initiatives formulated by the KRG. The arguments are based on extensive fieldwork (2012–2016) that the author conducted in the KRI and Europe, including interviews with diaspora members, returnees and policy-makers.

The politics of genocide recognition: Kurdish nation-building and commemoration in the post-Saddam era

ABSTRACTThis article explores genocide recognition politics (GRP) with a specific focus on Saddam Hussein’s Anfal campaign (1988) against the Kurdish population in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). In the context of a pending referendum on independence in the KRI, this study investigates the evolution of GRP in relation to secession, nation-building and commemoration as well as the social, political and economic drivers in the process. In addition, the study zeroes in on the internationalization of genocide recognition claims via diaspora lobbying and the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq (KRG)’s bureaux of representation in Europe. The results are based on extensive fieldwork conducted with KRG representatives, diaspora entrepreneurs and other stakeholders between 2012 and 2016 in Europe and Iraqi Kurdistan. The KRG’s genocide recognition claims are not explicitly associated with secession, but instead are employed to legitimize local rule by referencing collective trauma and shared victimhood. In this way, Anfal – as the ‘chosen trauma’ – has become a component of (local) nation-building mechanisms. Nevertheless, recognition claims can become instrumentalized for secession so long as the political circumstances in the region become favourable to Kurdish independence. In the diaspora context, GRP serve to establish a link to homeland through commemoration practices, but they also provide greater space for lobbying and transnational advocacy networking.

The Iraqi Kurdistan in the Post-Saddam Era: Security, Natural Resources and Foreign Policy Activism

This paper examines the role of security and the factor of natural resources in strengthening the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s foreign relations. The author finds that, in the post-Saddam period, despite countless obstacles from various sides, the KRG has managed to use security/stability and the oil and gas of the Region to develop and strengthen its foreign relations to a significant extent, which just a few years ago was nearly impossible for a federated unit, such as the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, to achieve.

Fenetheylline in the Middle East, a thriving trade in the post-Saddam era

Aims and Objectives: To collect up-to-date knowledge using a systematic review of the literature and to get evidence-based data concerning Fenethylline, and its illegal commerce in the region of the Middle East after 2003.Materials and Methods: Four main medicalliterature databases were scrutinized using a list of pre-specified keywords. Additionally, social networks, and other resources were utilized to retrieve relevant data. The total number of references that were used in this paper is twenty-two.Results: The literature search was conducted from the 3rd of December to the 29th of December 2015. The search was done from Baghdad, Iraq via the Earth link-Telenet Internet Service Provider (ISP). The Total Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) were 463137. The highest SERPs were for the keywords “Amphetamine” and “Fitton.” Google Scholar and PubMed were the databases that scored the highest SERPs. Captagon is a dangerous psychoactive substance. Its production was officially stopped in the 1980s. Currently, Captagon, and counterfeit Captagonare being illegally produced in South-East Europe and trafficked to the region of the Middle East.Conclusion: In the post-Saddam era of the Middle East, this substance has been traded and distributed at an exponential rate. The main explanation is that the rise of this illegal commerce is related to the chaos and the lack of order in the regions of conflict and civil war in Syria and Iraq in particular.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.7(4) 2016 116-119

Iraq between occupations: perspectives from 1920 to the present

Introduction A.Baram , R.Zeidel & A.Rohde PART I: IRAQ BETWEEN A NATION STATE AND ETHNO-SECTARIAN DIVIDES: A RE-APPRAISAL One Iraq or Many: What has happened to Iraqi Identity? P.Marr Kurds, Arabs and Iraqis: A History of a Clash of Identities S.Kirmanj The Kurdish Phoenix: Nation-Building in a Failed Iraqi Nation-State O.Bengio A Kurdish Leadership in Iraq: Facing the New Challenges, the Danger and the Chances of the Post-Saddam Era M.Eppel PART II: ASPECTS OF IRAQI HISTORY UNDER THE MONARCHY The Roots of Democratic Thinking in Iraq and their Contemporary Implications: Discourses on Democracy in the Hashemite Period 1921-1958 through the Vision of 'Abd al-Fattah Ibrahim' O.Bashkin Women under the Monarchy: A Backdrop for Post-Saddam Events N.Efrati PART III: THE BA'TH ERA AND BEYOND Understanding Ba'thist Iraq? Toward a Comparative Historiography of Dictatorships A.Rohde Sadr the Father, Sadr the Son, and the 'Revolution in Shi'ism' A.Baram On Servility and Survival: the Sunni Opposition to Saddam and the Origins of the Current Sunni Leadership in Iraq R.Zeidel The Iraqi Military under the Ba'th Regime: the Case of the Iraqi Armed Forces in Operation Desert Storm and the Impact of Desert Storm on its Performance in Operation Iraqi Freedom P.Malovany Iraq's Economy 2003-2008 J.Sassoon PART IV: THE US IN IRAQ 2003-2007/8 The U.S. in Iraq: The Dual Challenge of Insurgent and Sectarian Violence M.Eisenstadt Amateur Hour in Iraq: A Worm's Eye View of the Failure of Nation Building A.H.Coyne Until They Leave: Liberation, Occupation, and Insurgency in Iraq J.Yaphe

Contextualizing Sectarian Militancy in Pakistan: A Case Study of Jhang

In the post-Saddam era, the scourge of sectarian conflict in its worst form looms large on the horizon of the entire Muslim world: an intra-civilizational clash may be rather more likely (and imminent) than an inter-civilizational one. Hence sectarian militancy, with its potential to be the future determinant of the course that Muslim politics takes, needs thorough investigation. Moreover, it needs to be addressed as a problem in itself, not merely as a part of another problem—it has mostly been treated as a side-effect of Islamic ‘fundamentalism’ and one of other causes of ‘terrorism’ in the name of religion. The questions addressed in this paper are therefore of vital importance. Why, of all places, did Jhang become a hotbed of such Shiʿa-Sunni? To understand the antecedents of sectarian militancy there, it is imperative to locate the causes embedded in its history, particularly the rise of Deobandi influence. That history is referred to here as providing clerics like Haq Nawaz Jhangvi with the rationale for pronouncing a verdict of kufr on Shiʿas. However, while addressing the Shiʿa-Sunni divide, this paper also looks closely at another factor—the rivalry between the two leading kinships in Jhang namely the Syeds and Sials. These competing kinships, as the sources reveal, deliberately exploited and aggravated the sectarian fault lines in Jhang for local political advantage. That rivalry lends acute complexity to the dynamics that underlie an explosive situation, and it merits the careful probing here attempted. Equally important to understanding sectarianism is the role of the migrants, who settled in Jhang after the time of partition. These local traders and bazaars merchants from East Punjab have wealth but no political clout, which they looked for through unequivocal support and funding for outfits like Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkar-i Jhangvi. Another important theme in the paper is the interface between sectarian and electoral politics.

United States-Iranian Relations: The Terrorism Challenge

With more than 70 million people, the Islamic Republic of is one of the most populous countries in the Middle East. In addition to this large and talented human-resource pool, possesses a variety of natural resources, most notably hydrocarbon deposits: the world's second largest oil reserve (after Saudi Arabia) and the second largest deposit of natural gas (behind Russia). enjoys a strategic location between the Middle East and Central Asia. In short, the Islamic Republic is too important a regional power to be neglected. In comparison, the United States is the world's sole superpower with global economic and strategic interests. For more than half a decade America has been involved in two concurrent wars (Afghanistan beginning in October 2001 and Iraq since March 2003) on the eastern and western borders of Iran. Despite mutual interests and potentially resolvable points of contention between the world's superpower and a major regional power, Washington and Tehran lack official diplomatic relations, pursuing their strategic futures separate from one another. Diplomatic relations were severed after Iranian students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats hostage in November 1979. Since then suspicion and hostility have characterized relations between the two nations. This three-decade-long confrontation is fueled by three main charges against Iran--fostering nuclear proliferation, sponsoring terrorism, and obstructing the Arab-Israeli peace process. More recently, Tehran's role in destabilizing Iraq has been added to the list. Iranian officials categorically deny these accusations. The United States accuses of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. America has not ruled out the military option, but the Bush Administration relied mainly on economic sanctions in attempting to force to give up its nuclear aspirations. The United Nations Security Council issued four resolutions--1737 (2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008), and 1835 (2008)--to establish and strengthen economic sanctions against Iran. In its latest report (November of 2008), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanded fuller cooperation from in implementing nonproliferation accords, though the agency has never confirmed that is actually constructing nuclear weapons. (1) has been on the US Department of State's list of nations sponsoring terrorism since the list was created in 1984. In the past several years the Department of State has bolstered this designation by highlighting the close connections Tehran has with the terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas. The latest Country Reports on Terrorism (issued in April 2008) states, Iran remained the most active state sponsor of (2) The Islamic Republic, however, denies any involvement in terrorist activities and, as this article will discuss, conversely claims that it has been a victim of terrorism. Despite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inflammatory rhetoric regarding Israel, many Iranian officials and commentators believe that their country has no national interest conflict with the Jewish state. Many Iranians believe that Tehran has already paid a high price for its position with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict. When questioned regarding its relationship with Iraq, Iranian officials claim that the American military presence is the main reason for Iraqi instability and have repeatedly called for a full withdrawal of US forces. Despite this strong public opposition to the American presence, the Iranians have been relatively supportive of political developments in the post-Saddam era. The consensus in Tehran is that Sunni domination in Baghdad was the main reason for Iraq's decade-long aggressive regional policy, including the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). The intended purpose of Iranian strategy in Iraq is to prevent the Sunnis from regaining power and to provide broad support for the Shia majority. …

Reconstruction and Peacebuilding Under Extreme Adversity: The Problem of Pervasive Corruption in Iraq

Indexes of corruption compiled by the World Bank and Transparency International suggest that Iraq is one of the world's most corrupt countries. While corruption thrived under Saddam Hussein, it has worsened further in the post-Saddam era. Controlling and eradicating Iraqi corruption has proved difficult owing to the fact that it is the product of an interrelated set of forces including: (a) the growth and dynamics of the shadow or informal economy; (b) the deterioration in social capital, and in particular the near absence of trust between the different regions, religious groups, tribes and even within local neighbourhoods; and (c) the evolving relationship between tribes, gangs and the insurgency. Any effort that attempts to control corruption without taking these factors into account will have little chance of success.

Review: Defense Strategy for the Post-Saddam Era

Review: Defense Strategy for the Post-Saddam Era

Defense Strategy for the Post-Saddam Era

The Brookings Institution has long produced an analysis of America's defense budgets and policies. The war on terror and the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have forced upon this country soaring defense budgets and unprecedented challenges in policymaking. In the newest installment in this tradition, leading foreign policy expert Michael O'Hanlon offers policy recommendations for strengthening the ability of America's military to respond to international crises in a tumultuous world. The United States can, for the foreseeable future, be confident that its armed forces will remain engaged in Iraq, as well as in Afghanistan and other theaters in the war on terror. It will also need to remain involved in deterrence missions in the western Pacific, most notably in Korea and the Taiwan Strait. It will wish to remain engaged in European security, since the capabilities and cohesion of the NATO alliance have important implications for the United States globally. O'Hanlon reviews these priorities, asking tough questions and developing frameworks for answering them: What military will the United States need in the future? How much will it cost? How can the U.S. increase the size of its ground forces without increasing the size of the defense budget? In an era of apocalyptic terror threats, and at a time of $400 billion defense budgets and $400 billion federal budget deficits, how can this country protect its citizens while maintaining fiscal responsibility?

Defense strategy for the post-Saddam era

Defense strategy for the post-Saddam era