Iraq
People, History, Politics
2nd Edition
Published on 22. September 2016
352 pages
978-1-5095-1118-1 (ISBN)
Description
Few countries can claim to have endured such a difficult and tortuous history as that of Iraq. Its varied peoples have had to contend with externally imposed state-building at the end of the First World War, through to the rise of authoritarian military regimes, to the all-encompassing power of Saddam Hussein s dictatorship. They have endured destructive wars, internationally-imposed sanctions, and a further bout of destabilizing regime change and subsequent state-building from 2003. The recent rise of the Islamic State, the consolidation of the Kurdistan Region, and the response of the Shi i populace have brought the country to a de facto partition that may bring about Iraq s final demise.
The second edition of Iraq: People, History, Politics provides a comprehensive analysis of the political, societal, and economic dynamics that have governed Iraq s modern development. Situating recent events within a longer historical timeframe, this book is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the deep histories that underpin the contemporary politics of this war-torn and troubled state.
The second edition of Iraq: People, History, Politics provides a comprehensive analysis of the political, societal, and economic dynamics that have governed Iraq s modern development. Situating recent events within a longer historical timeframe, this book is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the deep histories that underpin the contemporary politics of this war-torn and troubled state.
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Person
Gareth Stansfield is Al-Qasimi Professor of Arab Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and a Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), London. He is also a Global Fellow of the Wilson Center, Washington DC
Content
Introduction: Artificiality, Identity, Dictatorship, and State-Building
Chapter 1: Legacies of Civilizations and Empires
Chapter 2: State Formation, Monarchy, and Mandate, 1918-1932
Chapter 3: Conceptualizing Iraqi Society
Chapter 4: From Authoritarian to Totalitarian State, 1933-1979
Chapter 5: Iraq at War, 1979-1989
Chapter 6: The Pariah State, 1989-2003
Chapter 7: Regime Change, 2003-
Chapter 8: From the Brink, to the Brink
Chapter 9: The Disintegration of Iraq
Chapter 10: The Rise of the Islamic State
Conclusion
ADM Assyrian Democratic Movement. Political party representing Chaldo-Assyrian community, headed by Younadam Youssef Kanna. Al-Qaeda (Iraq) Sunni Islamist organization attacking foreign influences in Muslim countries. Headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri following the death of Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda Iraq (AQI - or tanzim qa'idat al-Jihad fi bilad al-Rafidayn) headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until his death in 2006, and formed basis of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) that led to the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), then the Islamic State (IS). Anfal Codename of Government of Iraq campaign in 1987-88 for systematic depopulation of rural Kurdistan. Anfal refers to the eighth sura of the Quran. Ansar al-Islam Partisans of Islam. Kurdish Islamist group that formed part of the Ansar al-Sunnah group that emerged in the years following regime change. Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq League of the Righteous. Shi?i militia group led by Qais Al-Khazali. Formed in 2006 as splinter of Mahdi Army and fought against US forces. Close relationship with Iranian IRGC, and, since 2014, part of the Hashed al-Sha'abi. Ayatollah Literally, 'Sign of God'. Highest clerical rank in Shi?i religious establishment. Badr Organization Originally the military wing of SCIRI then ISCI. Operates independently as a Shi?i militia headed by Hadi Al-Amiri. The Badr organization is part of the Hashed al-Sha'bi. Ba?th Party Arab Socialist Ba?th Party. Founded in 1947 as a secular Arab nationalist party by Michel Aflaq. Came to power in Iraq in 1963 coup, then again in 1968 when Saddam Hussein quickly became the leading figure. Caliphate An Islamic government led by a caliph (Khalifa in Arabic). The caliph has to be recognized as a successor to the Prophet Mohammed and would then lead the worldwide Muslim community. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed himself caliph in Mosul in July 2014, but has not received global recognition among Muslims as being a legitimate caliph. CIA (US) Central Intelligence Agency. CPA Coalition Provisional Authority. Replaced ORHA. Headed by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III. Da?wa Hizb al-Da?wa Islamiyya (Party of the Islamic Call). Shi?i party formed in late 1950s under guidance of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr Al-Sadr. Fractured into several wings. Prominent figures include Haidar Al-Abadi, Nouri Al-Maliki and Ibrahim Al-Ja?fari. Hashed al-Sha'abi People's Mobilization Forces (PMF). Umbrella Shi?i militia organization formed in 2014 in response to rise of ISIS. Overall Chairman is Dr Falih Al-Fayyadh. Most prominent components include Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Badr Organization, Peace Companies and Kata'ib al-Imam Ali. hawza More fully, hawza al-marja'iyya. The religious establishment surrounding the leading clerical figures of Shi?ism. GDP Gross Domestic Product. GNP Gross National Product. IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency. ICP Iraqi Communist Party. Formed in 1934. IGC Iraqi Governing Council. Appointed by CPA to provide advice on governing Iraq between 13 July 2004 and 1 June 2005. IIG Interim Iraqi Government. Formed after the elections of 30 January 2005. Replaced on 3 May 2005 by the Iraqi Transitional Government. Dr Iyad Allawi served as prime minister with Ghazi Al-Yawer appointed president. IIP Iraqi Islamist Party. Sunni Arab Islamist party. Headed by Muhsin Abdel Hamid until July 2004, then by Tariq Al-Hashemi. IKF Iraqi Kurdistan Front. Political front of leading Kurdish parties in Iraq formed in the late 1980s. IMK Islamic Movement of Kurdistan. Kurdish Islamist party. INA Iraqi National Accord. Opposition political party from the 1990s, representing dissident figures from the Ba?th Party and the Iraqi military. Led by Dr Iyad Allawi. INC Iraqi National Congress. Opposition political party from the 1990s, forming an umbrella movement. Headed by Dr Ahmed Chalabi. IRGC Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Corp, otherwise known as Sepah or Pasdaran. IS Islamic State, or al-Dawla al-Islamiyya. Proclaimed in June 2014 by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the Caliphate. ISF Iraqi Security Forces. ISI Islamic State of Iraq, or Dawlat al-Iraq al-Islamiyyah. Formed in October 2006 from AQI and other Sunni insurgent groups. Led at first by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, then Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and then Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, from 2010. ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or al-Dawla al-Islamiyya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, formed in 2013, following an announcement by ISI leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the merger of ISI with the ISI off-shoot in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra. ISCI Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, previously SCIRI (the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq), and consistently known as 'al-majlis' (the Council). Formed in Tehran in 1982 to bring together Shi?i opposition groups in Iraq. Headed by Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim. JRTN Jaish al-Rijal al-Tarika al-Naqshabandiyya. Translated as the Army of the Men of the Naqshabandiyya Order, the JRTN emerged as one of several Ba?thist insurgency groups established in the summer of 2003 following the invasion of Iraq. They came to public prominence in 2006, following the execution of Saddam Hussein. Linked to Saddam's former deputy, Izzet Ibrahim al-Douri, the group entered an uneasy alliance with ISIS. KDP Kurdistan Democratic Party. Established 1946 and remains one of the two main Kurdish political parties. Led by Massoud Barzani. KIU Kurdistan Islamic Union. The mainstream Kurdish Islamist party. Formed in 1994. KNA Kurdistan National Assembly. The 111-seat parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. KRG Kurdistan Regional Government. The executive authority of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, based in Erbil. KRI Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The federal autonomous region established in 1991 and enshrined in the Constitution of 2005, subsequently expanded in the summer of 2014. Mahdi Army The militia movement of Muqtada al-Sadr in 2003 and disbanded in 2008. Replaced by the Peace Companies (Saraya al-Salam) in 2014. marja' al-taqlid 'Source of Emulation'. Honorific name given to the most important religious figures in Shi?ism. MNF-I Multi-National Forces Iraq. The name of Coalition forces in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. mujtahid A scholar of Islam qualified to interpret Islamic law. neo-cons Neo-conservatives. Right-wing ideological grouping in US in early 2000s that advocated interventionist strategies in the Middle East. OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OIP (UN) Office of the Iraq Program. OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. ORHA Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. pasdaran The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, otherwise known as the IRGC. peshmerga Kurdish fighters in general, but most often used to refer to the military organizations of the KDP and PUK, and now the Kurdistan Army nominally under the command of the KRG. Literally means 'those who face death'. PKK Parti Karkaren Kurdistan or Kurdistan Workers' Party. Formed in 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan against the Turkish state. PUK Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. One of the two main parties of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Formed in 1975 and led by Jalal Talabani, with factions led by Hero Ibrahim, Kosrat Rasoul, and Barham Salih. PYD Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat or Democratic Union Party. Syrian Kurdish political party formed in 2003 and becoming...
Chapter 1: Legacies of Civilizations and Empires
Chapter 2: State Formation, Monarchy, and Mandate, 1918-1932
Chapter 3: Conceptualizing Iraqi Society
Chapter 4: From Authoritarian to Totalitarian State, 1933-1979
Chapter 5: Iraq at War, 1979-1989
Chapter 6: The Pariah State, 1989-2003
Chapter 7: Regime Change, 2003-
Chapter 8: From the Brink, to the Brink
Chapter 9: The Disintegration of Iraq
Chapter 10: The Rise of the Islamic State
Conclusion
Abbreviations and Glossary
ADM Assyrian Democratic Movement. Political party representing Chaldo-Assyrian community, headed by Younadam Youssef Kanna. Al-Qaeda (Iraq) Sunni Islamist organization attacking foreign influences in Muslim countries. Headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri following the death of Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda Iraq (AQI - or tanzim qa'idat al-Jihad fi bilad al-Rafidayn) headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until his death in 2006, and formed basis of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) that led to the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), then the Islamic State (IS). Anfal Codename of Government of Iraq campaign in 1987-88 for systematic depopulation of rural Kurdistan. Anfal refers to the eighth sura of the Quran. Ansar al-Islam Partisans of Islam. Kurdish Islamist group that formed part of the Ansar al-Sunnah group that emerged in the years following regime change. Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq League of the Righteous. Shi?i militia group led by Qais Al-Khazali. Formed in 2006 as splinter of Mahdi Army and fought against US forces. Close relationship with Iranian IRGC, and, since 2014, part of the Hashed al-Sha'abi. Ayatollah Literally, 'Sign of God'. Highest clerical rank in Shi?i religious establishment. Badr Organization Originally the military wing of SCIRI then ISCI. Operates independently as a Shi?i militia headed by Hadi Al-Amiri. The Badr organization is part of the Hashed al-Sha'bi. Ba?th Party Arab Socialist Ba?th Party. Founded in 1947 as a secular Arab nationalist party by Michel Aflaq. Came to power in Iraq in 1963 coup, then again in 1968 when Saddam Hussein quickly became the leading figure. Caliphate An Islamic government led by a caliph (Khalifa in Arabic). The caliph has to be recognized as a successor to the Prophet Mohammed and would then lead the worldwide Muslim community. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed himself caliph in Mosul in July 2014, but has not received global recognition among Muslims as being a legitimate caliph. CIA (US) Central Intelligence Agency. CPA Coalition Provisional Authority. Replaced ORHA. Headed by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III. Da?wa Hizb al-Da?wa Islamiyya (Party of the Islamic Call). Shi?i party formed in late 1950s under guidance of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr Al-Sadr. Fractured into several wings. Prominent figures include Haidar Al-Abadi, Nouri Al-Maliki and Ibrahim Al-Ja?fari. Hashed al-Sha'abi People's Mobilization Forces (PMF). Umbrella Shi?i militia organization formed in 2014 in response to rise of ISIS. Overall Chairman is Dr Falih Al-Fayyadh. Most prominent components include Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Badr Organization, Peace Companies and Kata'ib al-Imam Ali. hawza More fully, hawza al-marja'iyya. The religious establishment surrounding the leading clerical figures of Shi?ism. GDP Gross Domestic Product. GNP Gross National Product. IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency. ICP Iraqi Communist Party. Formed in 1934. IGC Iraqi Governing Council. Appointed by CPA to provide advice on governing Iraq between 13 July 2004 and 1 June 2005. IIG Interim Iraqi Government. Formed after the elections of 30 January 2005. Replaced on 3 May 2005 by the Iraqi Transitional Government. Dr Iyad Allawi served as prime minister with Ghazi Al-Yawer appointed president. IIP Iraqi Islamist Party. Sunni Arab Islamist party. Headed by Muhsin Abdel Hamid until July 2004, then by Tariq Al-Hashemi. IKF Iraqi Kurdistan Front. Political front of leading Kurdish parties in Iraq formed in the late 1980s. IMK Islamic Movement of Kurdistan. Kurdish Islamist party. INA Iraqi National Accord. Opposition political party from the 1990s, representing dissident figures from the Ba?th Party and the Iraqi military. Led by Dr Iyad Allawi. INC Iraqi National Congress. Opposition political party from the 1990s, forming an umbrella movement. Headed by Dr Ahmed Chalabi. IRGC Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Corp, otherwise known as Sepah or Pasdaran. IS Islamic State, or al-Dawla al-Islamiyya. Proclaimed in June 2014 by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the Caliphate. ISF Iraqi Security Forces. ISI Islamic State of Iraq, or Dawlat al-Iraq al-Islamiyyah. Formed in October 2006 from AQI and other Sunni insurgent groups. Led at first by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, then Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and then Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, from 2010. ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or al-Dawla al-Islamiyya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, formed in 2013, following an announcement by ISI leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the merger of ISI with the ISI off-shoot in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra. ISCI Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, previously SCIRI (the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq), and consistently known as 'al-majlis' (the Council). Formed in Tehran in 1982 to bring together Shi?i opposition groups in Iraq. Headed by Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim. JRTN Jaish al-Rijal al-Tarika al-Naqshabandiyya. Translated as the Army of the Men of the Naqshabandiyya Order, the JRTN emerged as one of several Ba?thist insurgency groups established in the summer of 2003 following the invasion of Iraq. They came to public prominence in 2006, following the execution of Saddam Hussein. Linked to Saddam's former deputy, Izzet Ibrahim al-Douri, the group entered an uneasy alliance with ISIS. KDP Kurdistan Democratic Party. Established 1946 and remains one of the two main Kurdish political parties. Led by Massoud Barzani. KIU Kurdistan Islamic Union. The mainstream Kurdish Islamist party. Formed in 1994. KNA Kurdistan National Assembly. The 111-seat parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. KRG Kurdistan Regional Government. The executive authority of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, based in Erbil. KRI Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The federal autonomous region established in 1991 and enshrined in the Constitution of 2005, subsequently expanded in the summer of 2014. Mahdi Army The militia movement of Muqtada al-Sadr in 2003 and disbanded in 2008. Replaced by the Peace Companies (Saraya al-Salam) in 2014. marja' al-taqlid 'Source of Emulation'. Honorific name given to the most important religious figures in Shi?ism. MNF-I Multi-National Forces Iraq. The name of Coalition forces in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. mujtahid A scholar of Islam qualified to interpret Islamic law. neo-cons Neo-conservatives. Right-wing ideological grouping in US in early 2000s that advocated interventionist strategies in the Middle East. OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OIP (UN) Office of the Iraq Program. OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. ORHA Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. pasdaran The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, otherwise known as the IRGC. peshmerga Kurdish fighters in general, but most often used to refer to the military organizations of the KDP and PUK, and now the Kurdistan Army nominally under the command of the KRG. Literally means 'those who face death'. PKK Parti Karkaren Kurdistan or Kurdistan Workers' Party. Formed in 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan against the Turkish state. PUK Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. One of the two main parties of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Formed in 1975 and led by Jalal Talabani, with factions led by Hero Ibrahim, Kosrat Rasoul, and Barham Salih. PYD Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat or Democratic Union Party. Syrian Kurdish political party formed in 2003 and becoming...
