Basra, the Failed Gulf State: Separatism and Nationalism in Southern Iraq

by Reidar Visser

Is Iraq "artificial", on the verge of disintegrating? All too often, the answers to this question ignore Iraq's own history. In fact, the literature on indigenous attempts at dismembering Iraq is surprisingly patchy, especially with regard to the oil-rich south. This book presents, for the first time, an actual case of southern Iraqi a daring bid to turn Basra into a pro-British mercantile mini-state. The study uncovers the dynamics and limits of southern separatism, casts new light on the victory of Iraqi nationalism in the south and discusses the challenges of post-2003 regionalism in a federal Iraq.

Genres: History

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2005

Reviews

[Younes Mowafak · Rating 4 out of 5]

البصرة محافظة عراقية بثراث وثقافة شبه عالمية..

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, scholarly depiction of the several separatist movements in the Basra region during early state formation in Iraq (1910-1940); fills in the geographical gap between Anscombe's The Ottoman Gulf and Nakash's The Shi'is of Iraq. Interesting treatment not only of the initial separatist movement but also of more storied episodes like the joint subjugation of Muhammara and the idiosyncratic status of Zubayr. Any relevance to present-day separatism in the region, however, is minimal; a tacked-on twelve-page afterword on modern separatism makes clear just how irrelevant this history to what is going on now.