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Iraq Since 1958: From Revolution to Dictatorship
In the West, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and later Saddam Husain's political survival following a punishing defeat in war have been greeted with bewilderment and incomprehension. The history of politics in Iraq and the context which has given rise to Saddam Husayn's violent Ba'thist regime have been barely understood.
This highly praised book is the first to explore the emergence of modern Iraq from its foundation in 1920 into the 21st century. It covers the period from the revolution in 1958, concentrating particularly on Saddam Husayn's rise to power and his consolidation as leader. It is the only political history of modern Iraq now available to provide a critical analysis of the Ba'thist regime which has ruled since 1968.
The authors also explore the role and decline of the Iraqi Communist Party, the shifting policies towards the Kurds and the Shi'is, the nationalisation of oil and Iraq's relations with its neighbours. With the extensive revision and updatings of Peter Sluglett, they provide a stimulating analysis of the country's economy, now so drastically affected by international sanctions.
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Real Promo blurb
As the world holds its breath while the US-Iraq confrontation approaches its denouement, here is the definitive story of Saddam Husayn, his rise to power and the historical background to his dictatorship.
This highly praised book explores the emergence of modern Iraq from the revolution in 1958 and concentrating on Saddam Husayn's rise to power and his consolidation as leader. The only political history of modern Iraq now available, it provides a critical analysis of the Ba'thist regime which has ruled since 1968. It explores the decline of the Iraqi Communist Party, the shifting policies towards the Kurds and the Shi'is, and Iraq's relations with its neighbours. Extensively updated by Peter Sluglett, it provides analysis of the country's economy, now so damaged by international sanctions.
`This is an excellent, reasoned, historical analysis of Iraq, lucidly written, theoretically astute, empirically based, politically firm.'
Fred Halliday
`A very good book indeed' Albert Hourani
---------------------------------
Author aff.
The late Marion Farouk-Sluglett lectured in Middle Eastern Politics at the University College of Wales. Peter Sluglett is Professor of History at the University of Utah.
This highly praised book is the first to explore the emergence of modern Iraq from its foundation in 1920 into the 21st century. It covers the period from the revolution in 1958, concentrating particularly on Saddam Husayn's rise to power and his consolidation as leader. It is the only political history of modern Iraq now available to provide a critical analysis of the Ba'thist regime which has ruled since 1968.
The authors also explore the role and decline of the Iraqi Communist Party, the shifting policies towards the Kurds and the Shi'is, the nationalisation of oil and Iraq's relations with its neighbours. With the extensive revision and updatings of Peter Sluglett, they provide a stimulating analysis of the country's economy, now so drastically affected by international sanctions.
---------------------
Real Promo blurb
As the world holds its breath while the US-Iraq confrontation approaches its denouement, here is the definitive story of Saddam Husayn, his rise to power and the historical background to his dictatorship.
This highly praised book explores the emergence of modern Iraq from the revolution in 1958 and concentrating on Saddam Husayn's rise to power and his consolidation as leader. The only political history of modern Iraq now available, it provides a critical analysis of the Ba'thist regime which has ruled since 1968. It explores the decline of the Iraqi Communist Party, the shifting policies towards the Kurds and the Shi'is, and Iraq's relations with its neighbours. Extensively updated by Peter Sluglett, it provides analysis of the country's economy, now so damaged by international sanctions.
`This is an excellent, reasoned, historical analysis of Iraq, lucidly written, theoretically astute, empirically based, politically firm.'
Fred Halliday
`A very good book indeed' Albert Hourani
---------------------------------
Author aff.
The late Marion Farouk-Sluglett lectured in Middle Eastern Politics at the University College of Wales. Peter Sluglett is Professor of History at the University of Utah.
416 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1987
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About the author
Marion Farouk-Sluglett
3 books1 followerMarion, a native of Berlin, traveled to Baghdad as a teenager with her family in the early 1950s. There she met and married Omar Farouk al-Awqati, a young officer from Mosul attached to the court of King Faisal II. He only revealed his affiliation with the banned Communist Party of Iraq at the moment of the July 1958 revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Marion, her anti-fascist commitment formed out of her German childhood, instinctually associated herself with the Iraqi left in the subsequent years of recurrent clashes with Baathist forces. The Baath seized power in a bloody putsch in February 1963, and tortured and killed thousands of communists, among them Omar Farouk. Marion fled to Berlin that summer with Omar’s parents and her baby sons, Marwan and Sha‘lan.
Marion remained engaged with the life of her adopted county, and her tiny Berlin apartment hosted scores of solidarity meetings on Iraq. She also began doctoral studies at Humboldt University. It was while working in the British Public Record Office that she met Peter Sluglett, who was himself researching Iraq’s British mandate period. To those of us who knew them, they always conveyed an unabashed enthusiasm for each other’s company, all the more so for those frequent times when jobs and research grants placed them apart. As a team they produced a wide range of essays on land tenure, labor movements, ideological trends and historiography. It is worth recalling that the highly critical appraisal of Iraq that Marion provided in these pages and in her book was produced at a time when most writings in the West were deferential, if not openly apologetic, to the regime in Baghdad. In the 1980s, as Baghdad warred against revolutionary Iran, this deference fully accorded with the political agendas of the great powers. This was a time when Marion was active in launching the Committee Against Repression and for Democratic Rights in Iraq, and bringing the work of dissident Iraqi intellectuals to the attention of Western readers.
Marion remained engaged with the life of her adopted county, and her tiny Berlin apartment hosted scores of solidarity meetings on Iraq. She also began doctoral studies at Humboldt University. It was while working in the British Public Record Office that she met Peter Sluglett, who was himself researching Iraq’s British mandate period. To those of us who knew them, they always conveyed an unabashed enthusiasm for each other’s company, all the more so for those frequent times when jobs and research grants placed them apart. As a team they produced a wide range of essays on land tenure, labor movements, ideological trends and historiography. It is worth recalling that the highly critical appraisal of Iraq that Marion provided in these pages and in her book was produced at a time when most writings in the West were deferential, if not openly apologetic, to the regime in Baghdad. In the 1980s, as Baghdad warred against revolutionary Iran, this deference fully accorded with the political agendas of the great powers. This was a time when Marion was active in launching the Committee Against Repression and for Democratic Rights in Iraq, and bringing the work of dissident Iraqi intellectuals to the attention of Western readers.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 1, 2008
I read chapter 7, "Economy and Society since 1958," and chapter 8, "The War between Iraq and Iran."
Another text full of economic tables, numbers, percentages, etc. And the authors are telling a similar story: the relative irrelevance of the state control by various political parties within Iraq compared to the dominant role of the oil industry -- both inside and outside of Iraq.
The tone has a bit of a "dependency theory" feel (famous dependency theorists from Latin America are cited along the way.)
The apex of state expenditure on social infrastructure and social services in Iraq lasts from the post oil boom period (1973 onwards) to the beginning of the war with Iran (1980).
The author's point out that while the various regimes that took state control from 1958 to 1980 all pursued the goals of social egalitarianism, none of them were really "socialist." Indeed, no only did all of them eventually persecute the very active Iraqi Communist Party, they also operated under the principles of state capitalism. Thus we have state control of the oil industry, state provision of social services, Keynesian style state expenditure on major infrastructure projects -- which are then carried out by private means for the purposes of profit, and state sale of oil on the world market. This "mix" was similar to many third world countries with the difference that no many of them had Iraq's oil.
The authors also make an important point: when revenues, rather than emerging from the labor of the people, emerge instead from foreign aid (Egypt, pre-PDPA Afghanistan) or from the external sale of oil (Saudi Arabia, Iraq), the state has no reason to stay connected to the society. The state moves from being a immanent actor to transcending the needs and connections with the local.
Tough reading but the structural analysis is sharp.
Another text full of economic tables, numbers, percentages, etc. And the authors are telling a similar story: the relative irrelevance of the state control by various political parties within Iraq compared to the dominant role of the oil industry -- both inside and outside of Iraq.
The tone has a bit of a "dependency theory" feel (famous dependency theorists from Latin America are cited along the way.)
The apex of state expenditure on social infrastructure and social services in Iraq lasts from the post oil boom period (1973 onwards) to the beginning of the war with Iran (1980).
The author's point out that while the various regimes that took state control from 1958 to 1980 all pursued the goals of social egalitarianism, none of them were really "socialist." Indeed, no only did all of them eventually persecute the very active Iraqi Communist Party, they also operated under the principles of state capitalism. Thus we have state control of the oil industry, state provision of social services, Keynesian style state expenditure on major infrastructure projects -- which are then carried out by private means for the purposes of profit, and state sale of oil on the world market. This "mix" was similar to many third world countries with the difference that no many of them had Iraq's oil.
The authors also make an important point: when revenues, rather than emerging from the labor of the people, emerge instead from foreign aid (Egypt, pre-PDPA Afghanistan) or from the external sale of oil (Saudi Arabia, Iraq), the state has no reason to stay connected to the society. The state moves from being a immanent actor to transcending the needs and connections with the local.
Tough reading but the structural analysis is sharp.
July 21, 2020
This book is extremely dry and hard to get through. I was trying to find some interesting stories of Iraq and Baghdad - but the book is written in such a scholarly way that I couldn’t hardly understand it. If you like scholarly writing, you’ll love this book. Just be aware it’s written like a verbal timeline.
August 2, 2020
A useful and interesting overview, but also a sedative.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews