International Elements of Saddam Hussein’s Conflicted Iraq: Shifting Allies, Resolute Foes

International Elements of Saddam Hussein’s Conflicted Iraq: Shifting Allies, Resolute Foes

The Iraqi state has undergone significant change since Saddam Hussein’s rise to power in 1979. As with most nations, global international relations have played a formative role in Iraqi decision-making, just as Hussein’s oft-presumptuous initiatives have affected other nations’ relationships with Iraq. It is widely acknowledged that Hussein has systematically violated the human rights of many Iraqi citizens. In this sense, the current U.N. and U.S. military pressure on Iraq has a viable humanitarian platform in addition to economic motives. However, as war looms progressively nearer, it is advisable to evaluate the efficacy of comparable past efforts in order to make prudent decisions for the future. In the pursuit of a more acute comprehension of Iraqi international relations, this paper traces the political history of modern-day Iraq with an emphasis on foreign relations as influenced by Saddam Hussein’s leadership.

The modern Iraqi state had its beginnings as part of the massive Ottoman Empire. Iraq did not exist as a state under Ottoman rule; rather, where modern Iraq is now, there were three “vilayets,” the districts of Basra, Baghdad, and Mosul. Due to the sprawling nature of the Ottoman Empire, coupled with a somewhat tenuous conquest, the vilayets had a remarkable amount of administrative and economic autonomy. The three areas actually had less in common with each other than with other regions well through the middle of the nineteenth century. Basra had strong relations with the Gulf and India, Baghdad was a critical link for Syria and Iran, and Mosul was closely tied to Anatolia and Aleppo (Farouk-Sluglett & Sluglett, 2).

However, the second half of the nineteenth century saw Istanbul taking a more passionate interest in exerting greater control over even its most inaccessible territories. Through an amalgam of new Ottoman laws and administrative arrangements, known as the “Tanzimat,” common reforms and practices were established for all three Iraqi vilayets. The Tanzimat had the predictable effect of increasing cross-wilayet homogeneity. Simultaneously, European commercial interest in the region was rising rapidly. Most notably, Great Britain’s commercial activity in the area skyrocketed during this period. The economic trajectory of the region responded in a gradual shift from the pattern of a subsistence economy toward an export-oriented economy, a trend that was not to be short-lived.