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Department of History

Problems of Democracy and Human Rights - Iraq

This week, we examine the problem of democracy in the Middle East and its relationship to questions of oil, social class, and imperialism. We concentrate on the example of Iraq, looking at the rise of the regime of Saddam Hussein, and the conflicts in the Gulf.

[LECTURE SLIDES]

Seminar Questions:

Were there movements for democratic politics in Iraq and if so why?

What role did outside forces such as the US play in shaping political developments in Iraq?

Tripp’s explanation about Iraq's failure to liberalise and democratise relies on an argument about the ‘political imagination of the new rulers’ in the 20th century. Is this an adequate explanation and are there any other forces at work that the narrative overlooks?
Readings:

Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq (Cambridge University Press, 2007), Introduction and chapters 2 (pp. 30-59), 3 (75-91, 100-105), 4-5, and 6 (up to p. 250) [ebook].

Recommended Readings:

William Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East 6thed. (Westview Press, 2017), pp.433-446, 524-532.

Douglas Little, 'Mission Impossible: The CIA and the Cult of Covert Action in the Middle East,' Diplomatic History 28 (2004): 663-701.

Sara Pursley, Familiar Futures: Time, Selfhood, and Sovereignty in Iraq (Stanford University Press, 2019).

Patrick Heller, ‘Degrees of Democracy: Some Comparative Lessons from India,’ World Politics 52 (July 2000), pp. 484-519.

Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt, 'Embracing Regime Change in Iraq: American Foreign Policy and the 1963 Coup d'Etat in Baghdad,' in Diplomatic History 39:1 (2015), pp.98-125.

Dunya Mikhail, In Her Feminine Sign (Carcanet Press, 2019).