Nabil Al-Tikriti
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264591
- eISBN:
- 9780191734397
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264591.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
This chapter examines the emergence of sectarianism in Iraq. Sectarian identities have long persisted in Iraq. And although they tend to cause violence, sectarian violence did not persist as a social ...
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This chapter examines the emergence of sectarianism in Iraq. Sectarian identities have long persisted in Iraq. And although they tend to cause violence, sectarian violence did not persist as a social constant; rather, outbreaks of sectarian violence only happened on specific occasions. For some observers, Iraq is divided into three distinct ethno-sectarian regions: the Shi’i Arab in southern Iraq, the Sunni Arab in central Iraq, and the Sunni Kurdish in northern Iraq. These geographic divisions are seen within the tripartite ‘no-fly zone’ borders of 1991 to 2003. While this portrayal does bear some resemblance to reality, it is insufficient in defining Iraqi society. However in the wake of the 2003 Anglo-American invasion, the occupation authorities formed policies which encouraged gradual, progressive and incessant increases in social chaos and a sectarianism that eventually led to the violent geographic consolidation of Iraq’s ethno-sectarianism mapping.Less
This chapter examines the emergence of sectarianism in Iraq. Sectarian identities have long persisted in Iraq. And although they tend to cause violence, sectarian violence did not persist as a social constant; rather, outbreaks of sectarian violence only happened on specific occasions. For some observers, Iraq is divided into three distinct ethno-sectarian regions: the Shi’i Arab in southern Iraq, the Sunni Arab in central Iraq, and the Sunni Kurdish in northern Iraq. These geographic divisions are seen within the tripartite ‘no-fly zone’ borders of 1991 to 2003. While this portrayal does bear some resemblance to reality, it is insufficient in defining Iraqi society. However in the wake of the 2003 Anglo-American invasion, the occupation authorities formed policies which encouraged gradual, progressive and incessant increases in social chaos and a sectarianism that eventually led to the violent geographic consolidation of Iraq’s ethno-sectarianism mapping.
Adeed Dawisha
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157931
- eISBN:
- 9781400846238
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157931.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
With each day that passed after the 2003 invasion, the United States seemed to sink deeper in the treacherous quicksand of Iraq's social discord, floundering in the face of deep ethno-sectarian ...
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With each day that passed after the 2003 invasion, the United States seemed to sink deeper in the treacherous quicksand of Iraq's social discord, floundering in the face of deep ethno-sectarian divisions that have impeded the creation of a viable state and the molding of a unified Iraqi identity. Yet as this book shows in this superb political history, the story of a fragile and socially fractured Iraq did not begin with the American-led invasion—it is as old as Iraq itself. The book traces the history of the Iraqi state from its inception in 1921 following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and up to the present day. It demonstrates how from the very beginning Iraq's ruling elites sought to unify this ethnically diverse and politically explosive society by developing state governance, fostering democratic institutions, and forging a national identity. The author, who was born and raised in Iraq, gives rare insight into this culturally rich but chronically divided nation, drawing on a wealth of Arabic and Western sources to describe the fortunes and calamities of a state that was assembled by the British in the wake of World War I and which today faces what may be the most serious threat to survival that it has ever known. Featuring the author's insightful new afterword on recent political developments, Iraq is required reading for anyone seeking to make sense of what's going on in Iraq today, and why it has been so difficult to create a viable government there.Less
With each day that passed after the 2003 invasion, the United States seemed to sink deeper in the treacherous quicksand of Iraq's social discord, floundering in the face of deep ethno-sectarian divisions that have impeded the creation of a viable state and the molding of a unified Iraqi identity. Yet as this book shows in this superb political history, the story of a fragile and socially fractured Iraq did not begin with the American-led invasion—it is as old as Iraq itself. The book traces the history of the Iraqi state from its inception in 1921 following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and up to the present day. It demonstrates how from the very beginning Iraq's ruling elites sought to unify this ethnically diverse and politically explosive society by developing state governance, fostering democratic institutions, and forging a national identity. The author, who was born and raised in Iraq, gives rare insight into this culturally rich but chronically divided nation, drawing on a wealth of Arabic and Western sources to describe the fortunes and calamities of a state that was assembled by the British in the wake of World War I and which today faces what may be the most serious threat to survival that it has ever known. Featuring the author's insightful new afterword on recent political developments, Iraq is required reading for anyone seeking to make sense of what's going on in Iraq today, and why it has been so difficult to create a viable government there.
Thomas Barfield
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145686
- eISBN:
- 9781400834532
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145686.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This book traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world—Afghanistan—from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban ...
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This book traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world—Afghanistan—from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. The book introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. It shows how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed. The book vividly describes how Afghanistan's armed factions plunged the country into a civil war, giving rise to clerical rule by the Taliban and Afghanistan's isolation from the world. It examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly, and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how a land conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties for more than a thousand years became the “graveyard of empires” for the British and Soviets, and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate.Less
This book traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world—Afghanistan—from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the Taliban resurgence today. The book introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. It shows how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite, but how this delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed. The book vividly describes how Afghanistan's armed factions plunged the country into a civil war, giving rise to clerical rule by the Taliban and Afghanistan's isolation from the world. It examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly, and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how a land conquered and ruled by foreign dynasties for more than a thousand years became the “graveyard of empires” for the British and Soviets, and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate.
Jeremy Salt
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520255517
- eISBN:
- 9780520934757
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520255517.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This chapter examines issues related to the Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988. This conflict was led by Ayatullah Ruhullah Khumayni of Iran and Saddam Hussein al Tikriti of Iraq, which eventually led ...
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This chapter examines issues related to the Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988. This conflict was led by Ayatullah Ruhullah Khumayni of Iran and Saddam Hussein al Tikriti of Iraq, which eventually led to a stalemate when both parties accepted a United Nations resolution to cease fighting. Saddam survived this war and two others, the American-led attack of 1991, and the American-led invasion of 2003, before being caught in December 2003.Less
This chapter examines issues related to the Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988. This conflict was led by Ayatullah Ruhullah Khumayni of Iran and Saddam Hussein al Tikriti of Iraq, which eventually led to a stalemate when both parties accepted a United Nations resolution to cease fighting. Saddam survived this war and two others, the American-led attack of 1991, and the American-led invasion of 2003, before being caught in December 2003.
Yukiko Koshiro
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451805
- eISBN:
- 9780801467752
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451805.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter studies the nature and degree of Japan's defense preparedness in Kyushu in the summer of 1945. Scholars claim that Japan dramatically expanded its defense forces on Kyushu to anticipate ...
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This chapter studies the nature and degree of Japan's defense preparedness in Kyushu in the summer of 1945. Scholars claim that Japan dramatically expanded its defense forces on Kyushu to anticipate the American invasion. Others argue that the Japanese preparations were far from complete. An entry in the top secret journal of the Imperial General Headquarters Army War Operations Plans Division states, “Overall, there is no determination for the final battle against the United States or in the continent [against the Soviet Union].” The only focus is on protracted withdrawal (jikyu kotai). Far from being only determined to fight the final battle against the United States or the Soviet Union or both, the Imperial General Headquarters attempted “to look beyond” the collapse of Japan's colonial empire.Less
This chapter studies the nature and degree of Japan's defense preparedness in Kyushu in the summer of 1945. Scholars claim that Japan dramatically expanded its defense forces on Kyushu to anticipate the American invasion. Others argue that the Japanese preparations were far from complete. An entry in the top secret journal of the Imperial General Headquarters Army War Operations Plans Division states, “Overall, there is no determination for the final battle against the United States or in the continent [against the Soviet Union].” The only focus is on protracted withdrawal (jikyu kotai). Far from being only determined to fight the final battle against the United States or the Soviet Union or both, the Imperial General Headquarters attempted “to look beyond” the collapse of Japan's colonial empire.
Robert F. Rogers
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833343
- eISBN:
- 9780824870287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833343.003.0011
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Pacific Studies
This chapter describes the U.S. assault on Guam and its eventual recapture of the Marianas from Japanese control. It goes into further detail regarding the military advances of the U.S. forces even ...
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This chapter describes the U.S. assault on Guam and its eventual recapture of the Marianas from Japanese control. It goes into further detail regarding the military advances of the U.S. forces even as it describes the conditions for the Chamorros during this period, both for those supporting the U.S. military activities and for those simply caught in the crossfire between U.S. and Japanese forces. This chapter also emphasizes the military value of Guam. In the eyes of American military strategists, the atomic bombing of Japan confirmed the immense strategic value of the Mariana Islands to U.S. national security. From the military viewpoint, this strategic value not only justified all past sacrifices to seize the Marianas but also impelled the permanent retention of the islands and the occupation of huge tracts of Guam’s land by the United States to meet potential new threats.Less
This chapter describes the U.S. assault on Guam and its eventual recapture of the Marianas from Japanese control. It goes into further detail regarding the military advances of the U.S. forces even as it describes the conditions for the Chamorros during this period, both for those supporting the U.S. military activities and for those simply caught in the crossfire between U.S. and Japanese forces. This chapter also emphasizes the military value of Guam. In the eyes of American military strategists, the atomic bombing of Japan confirmed the immense strategic value of the Mariana Islands to U.S. national security. From the military viewpoint, this strategic value not only justified all past sacrifices to seize the Marianas but also impelled the permanent retention of the islands and the occupation of huge tracts of Guam’s land by the United States to meet potential new threats.
Robert F. Rogers
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833343
- eISBN:
- 9780824870287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833343.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Pacific Studies
This chapter discusses the aftermath of the Spanish–American War and its implications for Guam. The American clash with Spain grew largely out of the expansionist ambitions of highly aggressive and ...
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This chapter discusses the aftermath of the Spanish–American War and its implications for Guam. The American clash with Spain grew largely out of the expansionist ambitions of highly aggressive and mostly Republican party leaders in the United States. Men such as Theodore Roosevelt, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, and the influential naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan wanted to make the United States a world naval power. Yet the war was an epochal turning point in the history of the Mariana Islands. Until World War II, the island would be administered as if it were a warship, the “USS Guam,” with the governor as captain, American military personnel as crew, and the Chamorros as mess attendants.Less
This chapter discusses the aftermath of the Spanish–American War and its implications for Guam. The American clash with Spain grew largely out of the expansionist ambitions of highly aggressive and mostly Republican party leaders in the United States. Men such as Theodore Roosevelt, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, and the influential naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan wanted to make the United States a world naval power. Yet the war was an epochal turning point in the history of the Mariana Islands. Until World War II, the island would be administered as if it were a warship, the “USS Guam,” with the governor as captain, American military personnel as crew, and the Chamorros as mess attendants.
Robert F. Rogers
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833343
- eISBN:
- 9780824870287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833343.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Pacific Studies
This chapter details the last century of Spanish rule in the Marianas. It highlights a succession of governors and international events which further weakened Spain’s grasp on Guam and its other ...
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This chapter details the last century of Spanish rule in the Marianas. It highlights a succession of governors and international events which further weakened Spain’s grasp on Guam and its other colonies. At the same time the chapter also recounts a surge in Russian and French scientific expeditions into the Pacific, as well as various other foreign encounters within the Marianas and out—particularly its close ties with its sister colony in the Philippines. Other incidents further eroded Spanish control of the Marianas—such as the loss of its colonies in Latin America, natural disasters, and a smallpox epidemic, to name a few. These events, along with the impending tide of American imperialism, would herald the arrival of a second wave of invaders onto Guam’s shores.Less
This chapter details the last century of Spanish rule in the Marianas. It highlights a succession of governors and international events which further weakened Spain’s grasp on Guam and its other colonies. At the same time the chapter also recounts a surge in Russian and French scientific expeditions into the Pacific, as well as various other foreign encounters within the Marianas and out—particularly its close ties with its sister colony in the Philippines. Other incidents further eroded Spanish control of the Marianas—such as the loss of its colonies in Latin America, natural disasters, and a smallpox epidemic, to name a few. These events, along with the impending tide of American imperialism, would herald the arrival of a second wave of invaders onto Guam’s shores.