The Iran-Iraq War

Resumen: Ya restan menos de 340 días para estrenar los nuevos años 20. Sin embargo, no bastan ni cien años para que la mujer oriental deje de resultar un verdadero intríngulis dentro de la perspectiva occidental. La fotógrafa iraní Shadi Ghadirian (Teherán, 1974) otorga su visión sobre la mujer de Oriente Próximo mediante su exposición ‘’Como todos los días’’. Se trata de su primera muestra en el Centro Cultural Internacional Oscar Niemeyer, la cual fue estrenada el 11 de enero y se clausura el 31 de marzo. La exhibición en la ciudad asturiana de Avilés marca un recorrido por las series fotográficas de Ghadirian que prueban la evolución de su trayectoria artística desde la perspectiva de género hasta un punto de vista más experiencial, aunque sin diluir la primera reflexión.

Abstract: She already has less than 340 days for the new 20 years. However, there are not enough years for the Oriental woman. The Iranian photographer Shadi Ghadirian (Tehran, 1974) gives her vision on the woman of the Middle East through her exhibition "Like every day." It is his first show at the International Cultural Center, Oscar Niemeyer, which was released on January 11 and closed on March 31. The exhibition in the Asturian city of Avilés marks a journey through the photographic series of Ghadirian that prove the evolution of his artistic career from the perspective of the genre to the most experiential point of view, although without diluting the first reflection.

Since 2005, Iranian writer and veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, Ahmad Dehqan, has emerged as one of the most well-known writers of fiction based on that war. War fiction in Iran (as well as other forms of cultural production about the war) generally has adhered to the official narrative of 'Sacred Defense,' which the Islamic Republic has promoted. The state also has been, and continues to be, the chief supporter of cultural production dealing with the war, particularly through institutions such as the Howzeh-ye Honari (Islamic Arts Center). Ahmad Dehqan is one such writer who is affiliated with the state. His fiction, however, particularly his novel Safar beh garā-ye devist va haftād darajeh (Journey to Heading 270 Degrees) and short story collection, Man qātel-e pesar-tān hastam (I Killed Your Son), not only fail to adhere to the norms of Sacred Defense fiction, but in many ways, attempt to undermine it. By focusing on two of Dehqan's short stories from the collection I Killed Your Son, this article argues that his fiction mines the recent past to challenge the authority of the Sacred Defense narrative by rewriting aspects of stories that took place during the war. In doing so, he reasserts the unsettled nature of the war narrative today in Iranian society and the continued interest and importance of the war.

Was Dr David Kelly lured to his death and left positioned in the Oxfordshire woods seventeen years ago – like a trusting child by a paedophile? Many believe so.

“They didn’t have to kill him!” (Senior UK intelligence operative)2.

The untimely death of the esteemed scientist, Dr David Kelly, occurred some hours between the evening of 17th July 2003 and the following morning. It was the 12th week of Bush and Blair’s illegal war on Iraq and the Occupation.

Between 19 March and 1 August 2003. a bloody backlash had been unleashed by the invasion of Iraq. The death toll had already reached around 15,000 Iraqis – 30 percent of whom were civilians – some 4,300 unarmed people, not to mention foreign military personnel and sundry others – including Dr Kelly.

Following the much more recent crushing of ISIS in Mosul the death toll had topped some 308,000 people.5 The US counter-onslaught destroyed much of the old city, but they were not reported as helping to rebuild.

Since June 2014 the Chaldean Catholic Church has faced an existential crisis. The recent attacks of the terrorist forces of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have resulted in increasing levels of persecution and forced displacement. This essay reflects on a more secure period in Chaldean history, during which the community made a strong contribution to the development of the modern state of Iraq. Although it was proportionally small in size, the essay will show that the Chaldeans contributed in ways which far outweighed their numbers, especially in the sphere of inter-communal relations.

Discuss the causes and consequences of "Operation Desert Storm" in 1990/91. "Operation Desert Storm" was one of the few modern wars with a high degree of systemic legitimation-backed by the UN, NATO, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and even tacit support from the Soviet Union-in which Bush's administration hoped to achieve more than just a regime change in Iraq. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, in August 1990, gave the US an opportunity to make an example out of him-to show the world the "price that must be paid by any regime that violates the terms of its alliance with the United States. The 1991 Gulf War was literally a punishment." (Mamdani, 2004, P. 146).

While the cinema of post-revolutionary Iran is internationally acknowledged, the world outside Iran has been ignorant of the Iranian war films that are the subject of this pioneering book. Over 200 Iranian feature films concentrating primarily on fighting and military operations have appeared since the 1980s and the beginning of the war between Iran and Iraq. This book presents a detailed exploration of the 'Sacred Defence cinema' established by Seyed Morteza Avini, a cinema that directly connects this war to the faith and religious belief of volunteer guardians of the revolution. These films remain the primary vehicles of the Islamic state in Iran for the preservation and memorization of the theme of martyrdom. As the distinguished film scholar, Hamid Dabashi writes in his Foreword to the book: 'If national cinemas are predicated on national traumas, in the volume that Pedram Khosronejad has put together we are at the heart of Iranian cinema.' "The eight-year Iran-Iraq war near the end of the 20th century renewed the horrors of the First World War near the start of the century - causing millions of casualties and untold devastation on both sides. It also resulted in a vigorous and dynamic cinematic output in Iran, producing some of the most ardent Islamist political movies, Shii-inflected spiritual films, and original theorization of what constitutes an 'Islamic cinema'. Khosronejad has managed to amass an astute and fascinating anthology - the first in English - that brings together an international roster of scholars to deal with the complexities and varieties of war fiction films, documentaries, television series and auteur directors." Prof. Hamid Naficy Northwestern University

This thesis examines Balkanisation as a force in the destabilisation of nation-states. It articulates a number of themes – including legitimation crisis, identity and nation-building, territory and borders, resources, and intervention – for the purpose of defining Balkanisation and analysing its effects. The thesis aims to demonstrate the impact of each theme through a case study of modern Iraq. The study is qualitative and chronological, navigating through various sources and trends of political decision-making, diplomacy, and conflict to provide evidence of a fluctuating crisis of nationhood.

Guided by this framework, the thesis proves a two-fold research hypothesis. Firstly, that Balkanisation is not only a widely-used metaphor, but a real political process. Secondly, that this process has had a significant effect on the history of Iraq – from its origins in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, through the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, to its contemporary civil war. Importantly, the thesis shows that Iraq has not seen the benefits of a synthesis between the state and national identity and has been unable to develop a tradition of stable, democratic governance. By demonstrating these things, the thesis moves to further our understanding of the dynamics at play in the failure of a nation-state, and to give more nuance and applicability to the notion of Balkanisation.

During the Islamic Revolution (1978/79) and the subsequent Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988) the cult of the martyr in Iran has had a lasting impact on the dynamics of revolution and war. As a powerful mode of boundary construction, the figure of the martyr represented a culturally idealised catalogue of norms and thus contributed crucial elements to the establishment and maintenance of the Islamic Republic’s political system. In this article martyrdom is conceptualised as a radicalisation of these modes of boundary construction, and thus as an extreme form of heroism, since the underlying discourses not only determine the sacred centre of the martyr’s society, but rather define opposing entities and ‘wrong behaviour’ in polar terms. Furthermore, I argue that martyrdom is to be determined as a dominant discourse influencing hegemonic masculinity in Iran in the late 70s and 80s. Accordingly, the cult of the martyr is to be understood to affect all aspects of gender relations in warring Iran. In his paper I shall show how the Islamist discourse on martyrdom has been forged and fostered through references to the Karbala narrative of early Islam and its modern reinterpretation as a heroic narrative which distinctively calls for the self-sacrifice of the true believer when facing tyranny and injustice. In effect, via the exaltation of
martyrdom as a radicalised mode of boundary construction, everyone’s contribution to the war became a personal obligation.

Casting the fallen soldiers of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) as 'martyrs' plays a crucial role in the legitimation discourse of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The government has succeeded in integrating many 'martyr families' into a state-revering political cult. This ethnographic study draws on theories of affect and atmosphere to investigate how practices around saintly dreams and their materialization in photographs and gravestones of martyrs have challenged the state narratives and discourses. I approach the veneration of martyrs through both affective and narrative sources and explore gravestones as new saintly localities. These localities are spaces of divinely intermediation with intimate connection to the transcendental realm. The multifaceted atmosphere of these sites offers nonconformist and heterogeneous entanglements in which dream-images of martyrs allow for the momentary subversion of the state's political cult.

This study seeks to determine how the Islamic Republic of Iran (‘the IRI’) has survived despite the multitude of forces seeking its ouster and vulnerability of prior twentieth century Iranian governments to regime change.  The IRI’s survival has puzzled many analysts especially due to the regime’s reported domestic unpopularity.  That the IRI has survived longer than any other twentieth century Iranian regime is even more unusual when compared to its predecessors.  Pre-1979 Iranian regimes enjoyed foreign support and fell when those external forces became hostile in 1921, 1941 and 1953 or wavered in 1979.  In contrast, the IRI has not only lacked substantial foreign support but has faced formidable external challengers like the United States.
Two relationships effectively explain the IRI’s survival.  The first is between the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (‘IRGC’).  This ensures that the regime has the enforcers to quell domestic unrest and project power internationally to weaken actors seeking regime change.  The nature of this relationship prevents a military takeover, as the IRGC’s ideology requires the pre-eminence of the Supreme Leader.  The second is between the regime and the general public (particularly the poor).  This ensures that the regime does not face mass dissatisfaction, as the last Shah did in 1979. 
The IRI has balanced repression, populism, pragmatism, and popular legitimacy (frequently with elections) and appeasement.  Further, the Islamic Republic began with an advantage: regimes resulting from mass revolutions are traditionally difficult for foreign powers to overthrow due to the regime’s dedication and popular support. 
After the Shah’s overthrow, the clerics contended with numerous armed post-revolutionary factions.  As a result of superior popular support, unifying the country behind anti-Americanism and the war effort against Iraq’s invasion, the clerical regime won the post-revolutionary struggle against its domestic armed opponents.
After the war with Iraq and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death, the IRI moderated its policies while promoting socio-economic populism to prevent mass discontent.  The new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressed his legitimacy shortcomings by turning to the IRGC.  Although no longer an IRGC member upon his appointment as Supreme Leader, Khamenei had positive personal relationships with IRGC officials due to his supervision of the organization in its early days. 
Internationally, the IRI projected power and exploited American foreign policy blunders to forge a geopolitical situation that made it prohibitively costly for foreign powers to topple the Islamic Republic.  Further, the Iranian landmass is difficult to invade due to its unique and formidable geography.  Additionally, the IRI, by fostering relations with militias throughout the Middle East (e.g. the Lebanese Hezbollah), has created asymmetric trip wires that would cause intense instability against an invading power throughout the Middle East.  An overt military action against the IRI then, would not only result in the invader facing an intensely difficult campaign on Iranian soil but also a series of pro-Iranian guerrilla campaigns outside Iranian territory.

Irak Türkmenleri denildiği zaman hafızamızda ilk olarak Kerkük ve Musul canlanır. Fakat Osmanlı İmparatorluğunun dağılmasından sonra maalesef Türkler için hüznün ve acının adeta merkezi haline gelmiştir. Bu acılar dokunaklı bir şekilde halk edebiyatına ve o bölgenin türkülerine de yansımıştır;

“Yıktılar kal’amızı
Sürdüler balamızı
Daha can boğazdayken
Çektiler sâlamızı
Ah Kerkük yüz ah Kerkük
Her zaman yüz ak Kerkük
Ölseydim düşmeseydim
Men senden uzak Kerkük...”
 
Türkünün dizelerinden de anlaşılacağı gibi Türkmenler maalesef kaderine terkedilmiş ve geçen yıllar boyunca adeta bir mum gibi yavaş yavaş bölgede asimile politikaları ile erimektedirler. Bu konuya değinmeden önce bölgedeki Türk varlığını incelemekte fayda vardır. Türklerin Irak’a ilk girişleri H. 54 / M. 674 tarihlerine kadar uzanmaktadır. Emevi Halifesi Muaviye tarafından Horasan’a gönderilen Ubeydullah bin Ziyad ile Buhara prensesi Hatun emrindeki Türk kuvvetleri arasında yapılan çarpışmadan sonra bir barış yapılmıştır. Bu barıştan sonra Ubeydullah yanına aldığı Türk askerlerini Irak’a götürüp, Basra’ya yerleştirmiştir. Türklerin Irak’a gelişleri Abbasi döneminde, Halife Memun ve Halife Mutasım’ın iktidarı sırasında meydana gelen siyasi gelişmelerden dolayı daha da sıklaşmıştır. Emevi ordularında olduğu gibi Abbasi ordularında da yer alan Türkler, üstün savaşçı yetenekleri ile maharetlerinden dolayı üst mevkilere getirilmişlerdir. Ayrıca H. 211 / M. 836 ’da Halife Mutasım’ın emriyle Türk kumandanı Türk hassa askeri için Somerna şehri kurulmuştu. 25 Aralık 1055’te Bağdat’a giren Selçuklu hükümdarı Tuğrul Bey Büveyhoğulları’nın Irak’taki hakimiyetine son verilmiştir. Tuğrul Bey Bağdat ve Oğuzların yayıldığı Irak’ı Selçuklu Ülkesine katmıştır. Bu tarihten sonra Oğuz boylarına mensup birçok Türk, bu bölgeye yerleştirilmiştir. Böylece bölgede Büyük Selçuklular ile Türk hakimiyeti başlamıştır. Türklere daha önce yalnızca Etrak (Türkler) diyen Araplar, “Etrak-u Bağdat” (Bağdat Türkleri) demeye başlamışlardır.  1258 Moğol istilası ile Abbasi hilafeti son bulmuş, bölge Moğolların eline geçmiştir. Ayrıca bu bölgede Moğollarla birlikte çok sayıda Türk askeri gelmiştir. 1258 – 1336 İlhanlılar, 1338 – 1360 Celayirliler, 1360 – 1469 Karakoyunlular ve 1470 tarihinden itibaren de Akkoyunlular hakimiyetinde kalan bölge 1508 yılında Safevilerin eline geçmiştir. Safeviler’in Çaldıran’da (1515) Yavuz Sultan Selim Han’a yenilmesi ve Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Han’ın da 1534’te Bağdat’ı almasıyla bugün Irak olarak anılan bölge Osmanlı hakimiyetine geçmiştir. Osmanlılar Irak’ı, Bağdat, Basra, Musul, Şehrizor ve el-Ahsa olmak üzere beş bölgeye ayırarak idare ettirmişlerdir. 1623’te bölge tekrar Safeviler’in eline geçmiş ve Safeviler binlerce kişiyi katletmişlerdir. Sultan IV. Murad Han’ın 1638’de Bağdat’ı tekrar geri almasıyla Kasr-ı Şirin Antlaşması yapılmış ve kesin sınır çizilmişti. Böylece Musul-Kerkük bölgesi de dahil olarak I. Dünya Savaşı sonuna kadar bölge Osmanlı hakimiyetinde kalmıştır. Sonuç olarak Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Han ve Sultan IV. Murad Han zamanında Anadolu’dan getirilen çok sayıda Türk de bölgeye yerleştirilmiştir. I. Dünya Savaşından itibaren Irak’ın işgal edilmesi ve 1926 Musul Meselesi görüşmeleri sonucu Musul ve Kerkük’ün Irak’a bırakılmasıyla Musul ve Kerkük Irak’la birlikte İngiliz sömürgesi haline gelmiştir. 1920 – 1932 yılları arasında Irak’ın İngiliz Mandası altında bulunduğu dönemde Türkler baskı ve zulüm dolu bir devre yaşamışlardır. Irak’ın 1932 ’de Milletler Cemiyeti’ne kabul edilip bağımsızlığına kavuşmasından sonra da Irak Türkleri rahat yüzü görmemiş, baskı ve şiddet daha da artmıştır. Bütün bu baskı ve sindirme politikalarının Irak’ta bulunan Türk varlığını yok edemediği 1937 Sadâbâd Paktı’yla ortaya çıkmıştır. 27 Haziran 1937’de imzalanan Sadâbâd Paktı için bölgedeki Türkler büyük bir sevinç yaşasalar da pakttan sonra polis tarafından yapılan işkence ve zulme maruz kalmışlardır. II. Dünya Savaşı’nın sıkıntıları sebebiyle savaşı sakin geçiren Türkler savaştan sonra yeni bir katliamla karşılaştılar. 1946 yılında Gavurbağı’nda Kerküklü işçiler polis kuvvetleri tarafından yaylım ateşine tutulmuşlardır. Yine Bağdat Paktı’nın imzalanacağını duyan Türkler, bölgelerinde büyük bir sevinç yaşamışlardır. Fakat yine paktın imzalanmasından sonra Türklere yapılan baskılar artmıştır. Irak’ta 14 Temmuz 1959 Cumhuriyet’in birinci yılı kutlamalarında sokağa dökülen Kerkük Türkleri komünistler tarafından katliama uğramışlardır. 3 gün süren bu katliamda soydaşlarımız inanılmaz derecede zulüm ve işkenceye maruz kalmışlardır. Yaklaşık 1500 yıl kadar bu topraklarda varlığını gösteren Türkler I. Dünya Savaşı’ndan sonra batılı devletlerin bölgedeki çıkarlarından dolayı sistematik olarak çeşitli haksızlık, baskı ve katliama uğramışlardır. Emperyalist güçlerin özellikle yer altı bakımından zengin olan kuzey Irak’taki emellerinden dolayı bölgede yaşayan Türkler birçok zorlukla karşılaştıysa da bunlar karşısında Türk hükümeti ise maalesef hiç bir etkinlik göstermemiştir.

This article argues against a universalist theory in which Shi'ism explains all Iranian sacrifices during the Iran-Iraq War. The article asserts four methodological reasons why the current focus on Shi'ism as the explanation for " acts of martyrdom " is insufficient. The " Sacred Defense " literature of Christians, Zoroastrians, and the Fedayeen-e Khalq is examined to support the argument that nearly four decades of the Shah's rule and the battle over the future of the country engendered Iran as the sacred. Iranian minorities also participated in this internal battle. Unsurprisingly these same communities constituted the Iranian military forces at the start of the War. Yet, the reason why these diverse individuals and communities offered of and from themselves remains couched within the hegemonically unhelpful idioms related to Shi'ites and Shi'ism and their alleged culture of martyrdom. This article demonstrates how the Islamic Republic perpetuates this image of its populace, Shias and non-Shias alike, as part of a larger monotheistic culture of sacrifice. In contrast, this article re-inserts these communities back into Iranian history in their own words to demonstrate that some individuals willingly offered their lives during the early stages of the Iran-Iraq War because of nationalism, not a religious culture of sacrifice.

The Legacy of Iraq critically reflects on the abject failure of the 2003 intervention to turn Iraq into a liberal democracy, underpinned by free-market capitalism, its citizens free to live in peace and prosperity. It argues that mistakes made by the coalition and the Iraqi political elite set a sequence of events in motion that have had devastating consequences for Iraq, the Middle East and for the rest of the world.

Today, as the nation faces perhaps its greatest challenge in the wake of the devastating advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and another US-led coalition undertakes renewed military action in Iraq, understanding the complex and difficult legacies of the 2003 war could not be more urgent. Ignoring the legacies of the Iraq war and denying their connection to contemporary events could means that vital lessons are ignored and the same mistakes made again.

Iran and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) still had dubious relations, as a result of Russian expansionism since the nineteenth century, and this reality had not changed during the Cold War. However, the Islamic Revolution in Iran, under the leadership of R. Khomeini, was perceived as a turning point by Moscow because of its anti-imperialist character. After unsuccessful efforts, the two neighboring countries, which had been in conflict ideologically and strategically, found themselves in a dilemma: Despite all the disputes, they tried to establish new diplomatic, military and economic relations. The Iran- Iraq War, as a founding element, was the most striking development in the Iran-Soviet relations. On one side, the USSR had to support its ally, Iraq, during the War and on the other, it had to prevent other powers from influencing the young Islamic republic. In this way, the fragile relations between these two countries gradually improved after 1985, when Mr. Gorbachev unveiled the new Soviet thought.

A community of particular significance in the development of Mesopotamian-Iraqi Christian life in the modern era was (and is) the Dominican Order which has had a sustained presence since the 18th century. This article serves as an overview of Dominican contributions to Syriac Christian life in Mesopotamia and reflects on the Order's presence as part of the traditional plurality of Iraqi society. Notwithstanding the rise of Da'esh/ISIL since June 2014 multiple religious traditions continue to exist in Iraq. The willingness of wider Iraqi society to accept a Christian presence is easily forgotten in contemporary narratives which focus on sectarian discourses and avoid acknowledging that the Middle East is not dichotomous in perpetuity: there are wider considerations than Jewish-Muslim, Arab-Kurd, Arab-Persian &c. Moreover, while Islam is an ever present reality in the modern and contemporary Middle East, it is not the only reality.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today. As the appointed defender of Iran's revolution, the Guards have evolved into a pillar of the Islamic Republic and the spearhead of its influence. Their sway has spread across the Middle East, where the Guards have overseen loyalist support to Bashar al-Assad in Syria and been a staunch backer in Iraq's war against ISIS-bringing its own troops, Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Shiite militias to the fight. Links to terrorism, human rights abuses, and the suppression of popular democracy have shrouded the Revolutionary Guards in controversy.

In spite of their prominence, the Guards remain poorly understood to outside observers. In Vanguard of the Imam, Afshon Ostovar has written the first comprehensive history of the organization. Situating the rise of the Guards in the larger contexts of Shiite Islam, modern Iranian history, and international affairs, Ostovar takes a multifaceted approach in demystifying the organization and detailing its evolution since 1979. Politics, power, and religion collide in this story, wherein the Revolutionary Guards transform from a rag-tag militia established in the midst of revolutionary upheaval into a military and covert force with a global reach.

The Guards have been fundamental to the success of the Islamic revolution. The symbiotic relationship between them and Iran's clerical rulers underpins the regime's nearly unshakeable system of power. The Guards have used their privileged position at home to export Iran's revolution beyond its borders, establishing client armies in their image and extending Iran's strategic footprint in the process. Ostovar tenaciously documents the Guards' transformation into a power-player and explores why the group matters now more than ever to regional and global affairs. The book simultaneously serves as a history of modern Iran, and provides a crucial and engrossing entryway into the complex world of war, politics, and identity in the Middle East.

The Legacy of Iraq critically reflects on the abject failure of the 2003 intervention to turn Iraq into a liberal democracy, underpinned by free-market capitalism, its citizens free to live in peace and prosperity. It argues that mistakes made by the coalition and the Iraqi political elite set a sequence of events in motion that have had devastating consequences for Iraq, the Middle East and for the rest of the world. Today, as the nation faces perhaps its greatest challenge in the wake of the devastating advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and another US-led coalition undertakes renewed military action in Iraq, understanding the complex and difficult legacies of the 2003 war could not be more urgent. Ignoring the legacies of the Iraq war and denying their connection to contemporary events could means that vital lessons are ignored and the same mistakes made again.

Rhetoric espoused by the Baʿthi régime of Iraq reflected a deliberate mix of nationalistic and religious elements, most clearly expressed in the discourse surrounding the war with Iran, termed ‘Saddam’s Qadisiyyah’, after a battle during the Arab-Islamic conquests, which Saddam Husayn turned into a metaphor for Arab-Iranian relations. As the memory of the Seventh-Century engagement was popularized in Iraq, Qadisiyyah nomenclature spread throughout the Arab world (and beyond) and Saddam’s political paradigm found acceptance among Arab governments and Western observers alike. Saddam used this propaganda campaign to three ends: (1) to portray the political conflict with Iran as an ancient ethnic clash; (2) to promote his cult of personality; and (3) to present a successful precedent for Arab victory over Iran. In doing so, Saddam forged a new ‘Arab-Islamist’ discourse, combining religious faith with nationalist sentiment, which he embraced with increasing reliance to the end of his rule. Today, radical Sunni Islamist groups have assumed the mantle of this rhetoric.

Kurdish ambitions and demands relative to the Iraqi central government have always impacted the equilibrium of the country. Kurdish requests shifted from demanding autonomy to insisting on recognition, causing the various Iraqi administrations to change their policies towards the Kurds many times. These changes in Iraq's policies often caused violent repercussions among the Kurds, which sometimes escalated into armed conflicts. This paper aims to analyze the events that occurred between the Kurds and the Iraqi government from the 1960s to the end of the 1980s, specifically: the 1st and 2nd Iraqi-Kurdish War, how foreign countries were involved in these conflicts, and what were the short-and long-term consequences of the wars on the Kurdish population that paved the way to the al-Anfal Campaigns. A more in-depth analysis will be done on the 2nd Iraqi-Kurdish War and on the eight al-Anfal Campaigns, as the consequences were devastating for the Kurdish population, and marked a turning point in Kurdish relations with foreign countries. The goal of this study is to add a new understanding on how Iraqi and Western foreign policies affected the Kurdish sense of identity and of the state-building process that led to what is known today as the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Most of Iran’s urban population experienced the war with Iraq (1980–1988)
through the burden of privation and the fear of possible airstrikes. Thus, state-produced media on national television became the main apparatus through which they connected their daily lives to the national conflict. Ravayat-e Fath [The Narrative of Triumph] was one docudrama, comprised of five seasons that the state produced at different intervals between 1984 and 1987. Although Ravayat-e Fath has been presented and received as a
journalistic work, it enters the realm of fiction to fulfill its objective: To recruit soldiers. Through a collage of mythical stories, epic narratives, dramatic cinematography, mourning songs accompanied by reports from war fronts, and live interviews with soldiers, the series tells a story of a promised triumph through martyrdom. Through studying Ravayat-e Fath,
the most important state-supported television production of the Iran-Iraq war era, this article investigates the ways in which war propaganda in general, and the concept of martyrdom, in particular, generated tools like shaming to control the population during and after the war.

With developments in the past decade of such popular films as Masoud Dehnamaki’s trilogy, Ekhrajiha (The Outcasts), we are privy to a new trend in pro-regime filmmaking in Iran, one that centers on the creation of “new entertainment.” This pivot by pro-regime cultural producers is based on a perceived need to do away with the “war time propaganda” that “no one wants to see anymore” (as one pro-regime screenwriter told me), and to replace it with “new entertainment” that can engage with youth. The former head of Ansar-e Hezbollah in Iran, Masoud Dehnamaki, emerged at the forefront of this new movement by creating popular films that employ slapstick comedy about the war and which sell at historic box office numbers. His first narrative film, The Outcasts, is the focus of this article, as it signaled the beginning of a “new entertainment” by pro-regime cultural producers. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this article analyzes the film and filmmaker most responsible for the creation of “new entertainment.”

This paper attempts to understand the ambiguous and multifaceted role played by the Islamic-Socialist organization Mojāhedin-e Khalq (MeK) in its trajectory from anti-Shah dissident to anti-American terrorist, from American protégé to pro-western spy. The American troops protect the MeK members as a politically threatened minority while at the same time the US Department of State classifies it as FTO- Foreign Terrorist Organization. I argue that historical changes and political choices of both the USA and Iran prompted the MeK to assume diverse and even contradictory roles, while attempting to reach its main goal of defeating the Islamic Regime of Iran.

Reviewed by: Hilla Peled-Shapira
DOI: 10.1017/S0020743822000332
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/abs/women-writing-and-the-iraqi-bathist-state-contending-discourses-of-resistance-and-collaboration-19682003-hawraa-alhassan-edinburgh-edinburgh-university-press-2020-pp-258-12500-cloth-isbn-9781474441759/8A622C73DAA6CC432CE7D1FF7AB2BC56

This chapter seeks to re-interpret Iraqi politics after the US-led intervention of 2003 by examining the alternative discourses of democracy emanating from within Re-Colonial Iraq. It details the complex public sphere of the post-Saddam era and points to the inclusive nature of the positive developments that have occurred across the nation since 2003. The first part discusses the post-Saddam media landscape which has played a positive role in covering the nation’s difficult transition to democracy. The second part of this chapter documents and examines the Iraqi people’s exercise of their democratic right to protest and the influence these protests have had on the politics of the post-Saddam era. The chapter concludes that Iraqi citizens who play an active role in their own governance and participate in democratic mechanisms such as elections and mass demonstrations are helping to create a more robust democracy.

'The Middle East has the greatest oil reservoirs in the world. But, having created immense wealth, oil has not brought universal happiness to the region. The history of oil is about not only the great discoveries but the transformation of people and societies, the empires built on oil and the anarchies it has engendered.

From the first explorers trudging through the desert wastes to the excesses of the Peacock Throne and the high stakes of OPEC, the burnt-out remains of Saddam Hussein’s armies and the human tragedy of the Arab Spring, Empires and Anarchies describes the history of oil in all its aspects: how it enriched and fractured the Middle East, eroding traditional ways of life and facilitating the rise of Islamic radicalism.

This account presents a fascinating insight into the historical background of the region through the people and politics of oil. It is essential reading for anyone intrigued by the promise and the curse of oil, as well as for those interested in how oil has played a crucial part in shaping the modern Middle East.

‘An excellent, readable introduction to the history and development of oil in the Middle East . . . It is a complicated story but Quentin Morton handles it well with engaging, insightful, and humorous details that bring the broader international, political, and social aspects into high relief.’ – J. E. Peterson, editor of The Emergence of the Gulf: Studies in Modern History.

Available from Reaktion Books and all good book shops.

http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781780238104&nat=false&stem=true&sf1=keyword&st1=morton&m=5&dc=7

This article explores how provincial Iranian laymen and officials who support the regime (here, Basijis) mobilize the bodies and blood of martyrs to sacralize the national landscape in Post-Revolutionary Iran. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a powerful cohort of religious scholars and everyday citizens has emphasized the need to (re)generate the authentically Islamic interior of the nation while resisting an immoral, “Westernstruck” exterior. A significant part of this sacred defense against Western cultural invasion has been the exhumation of bodies of Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) martyrs from the battlefront for reburial and commemoration at sites across the national landscape. This article, based on 15 months of ethnographic research in the Fars Province of Iran, investigates these ongoing practices of reburying and memorializing martyrs. I argue that the exhumations and reburials of martyrs are strategic religious practices that organize the bodies of Iranian subjects around key reference points, specifically the martyrdom of the Imam Husayn at the Battle of Karbala, the 1979 Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq War. In addition, I show how acts of commemorating martyrs emphasize the sacrificial blood of male citizens, a bodily substance that draws further symbolic efficacy from its associations with the life-giving blood of kinship. This is the first ethnographic account of how martyrs are interred and commemorated in provincial Iran.

This book proposes a significant reassessment of the history of Iraq, documenting democratic experiences from ancient Mesopotamia through to the US occupation. Such an analysis takes to task claims that the 'West' has a uniquely democratic history and a responsibility to spread democracy across the world. It also reveals that Iraq has a democratic history all of its own, from ancient Middle Eastern assemblies and classical Islamic theology and philosophy, through to the myriad political parties, newspapers and protest movements of more recent times. This book argues that the democratic history of Iraq could serve as a powerful political and discursive tool where the Iraqi people may come to feel a sense of ownership over democracy and take pride in endorsing it. This could go a long way towards mitigating the current conflicts across the nation and in stabilizing and legitimating its troubled democracy. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and referring to some of the most influential critical theorists to question ideological assumptions about democracy and its history, this book will be useful to those interested in political and legal history, human rights and democracy.Reviews: 'This book is a serious and in-depth reading of Iraqi political history. Isakhan's argument, bolstered by an impressive array of source material, is a direct affront to the use of violence to impose a wholesale American "democracy" on a society that has its own rich history of egalitarian and collective forms of governance.' Muhsin Al-Musawi, Columbia University, USA 'Democracy in Iraq expertly excavates democratic traditions that have long been buried in Western Orientalism and Bathist totalitarianism. In demonstrating that a will towards collective and participatory governance has existed over the centuries, Benjamin Isakhan rescues assessments for Iraqi democratisation from the kind of negative determinism, deracinated from history and local culture, that has dominated scholarly and policy debates.' James Piscatori, Durham University, UK

ABSTRACT
As Iraqi forces invaded the Iranian border shortly after the Islamic
Revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) participated
in the battle along with the debilitated Iranian Army. The IRGC was a
young religious-revolutionary institution that lacked the resources that
revolutionary armies and militias conventionally rely on. Nevertheless,
it survived the battle pressure and even achieved relative military
successes in the second year of the war. By examining personal
narratives written by Iranian veterans, this article argues that in the
void of conventional resources in the first year of the war, the Guards
retrieved elements of their Shia background to recognize a religiously
inspired charisma in every combatant who would devotedly step
up for martyrdom. This shared understanding of the omnipotent
charisma was then acknowledged in action—by commanders’
deployment of it to impose order and through frequently held Shia
rituals on the battlefield. It thereby created an alternative source of
cohesion and motivation that led to the IRGC’s survival and prepared
them for further successful steps by the end of the war’s first year.

This book provides a modern historical study of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq from 2003 to 2013, against a background analysis of the origins and ecclesiological development of the Chaldean community from the sixteenth century onwards.

The book offers an insight into the formation of Chaldean ecclesiological identity and organisation in the context of the Chaldeans as a community originating from the ecclesial traditions of the Church of the East and as an Eastern Catholic Church in union with the Holy See. The book argues for the gradual and consistent development of a Chaldean identity grounded and incarnated in the Mesopotamian-Iraqi environment, yet open to engaging with cultures throughout the Middle East and West Asia and, especially since 2003, to Europe, North America and Australasia. It also examines the effects of religious and administrative policies of the governors of Mesopotamia-Iraq on the Chaldeans, from their formation in the sixteenth century until the installation of the new Chaldean patriarch, Louis Raphael I Sako, in March 2013. Furthermore, the book provides a unique analysis of the history of Iraq, by placing the Chaldeans fully into that narrative for the first time.

Providing a thorough overview of the history of the Chaldeans and an in-depth assessment of how the 2003 invasion has affected them, this book will be a key resource for students and scholars of Middle East Studies, Modern History, History of Christianity, as well as for anyone seeking to understand the modern status of Christians in Iraq and the wider Middle East.

Politique du cinéma iranien
De l’âyatollâh Khomeyni au président Khâtami , Éditions du CNRS, 2004
par Agnés Devictor

L’auteur de ce livre examine tout d’abord le cinéma iranien parce qu’il n’y a pas assez travail à propos de ce cinéma intéressant selon elle. Elle dresse l’histoire et le développement du cinéma iranien avec la dimension politique et culturelle à partir de 1979 jusqu’à aujourd’hui en deux partie. Elle se pose aussi comment le cinéma a été utilisé comme un outil politique et religieux par le nouveau régime après la révolution. Quelles films ont été réalisés et autorisés après la révolution ? Qu’dit l’àyatollâh Khomeyni sur le septième art modern etc