Iran, Iraq, and the Legacies of War

L. Potter, G. Sick, L. Potter, G. Sick

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN: 9781403964502
• eBook ISBN: 9781403980427
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: Social Sciences

Iraq and Iran are the two most important states in the Gulf region, given their population size, military strength, and the potential threat they pose to other states in the region. This book enhances our understanding of the troubled relationship between Iran and Iraq, placing it in historical context, examining the rapid deterioration leading to the eight-year war that started in 1980 and the effects of that trauma, and exploring the ongoing issues that currently bedevil bilateral relations. The authors cover such central issues as how each side has sought to use opposition groups in the other state to weaken it, ethnic divisions, the role of outside states (especially the United States), and a fascinating account of how the war affected a generation of Iraqis and Iranians. The role of the U.S. in the region and how U.S. policy has affected the two states are also considered. This book provides a basis for understanding the background of a tumultuous relationship that is entering a new era.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 The Troubled Relationship: Iran and Iraq, 1930–80
• 2 Position, Function, and Symbol: The Shatt al-Arab Dispute in Perspective
• 3 Between Iraq and a Hard Place: The Kurdish Predicament
• 4 The Antinomies of Iran’s War Generation
• 5 The War Generation in Iraq: A Case of Failed Etatist Nationalism
• 6 Iraqi Shi‘i Politics
• 7 Outsiders as Enablers: Consequences and Lessons from International Silence on Iraq’s Use of Chemical Weapons during the Iran-Iraq War
• 8 The Gulf States and the Iran-Iraq War: Pattern Shifts and Continuities
• 9 The U.S. Role: Helpful or Harmful?
• Contributors
• Index