January 2, 2009
Syllabus
Iraq and Iran: Society, Politics, War and Peace
IMES, Spring 2009
Wednesdays, 5:10 pm to 7:00 pm in Room B16, 1957 E St.
Instructor: Judith Yaphe, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, Institute for Middle East Studies, ESIA, GWU
Office: 1957 E Street, Room 512I
Tel: 202-994-5213; 703-560-8968 (home); cell: 703-801-4142
Office hours: Wednesday 3:30-4:30, Friday afternoon 3:00-5:00 pm and by appointment
Email: jyaphe@gwu.edu; jyaphe@aol.com
Required Books:
 Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and Revolutionary Movements in Iraq. (Saqi, 1978); pbk.
 Elizabeth Fernea, The Guests of the Shaykh.
 Phebe Marr, A History of Modern Iraq, 2nd ed.
 Reeva Spector Simon, Iraq Between the Two World Wars: the Militarist Origins of Tyranny. Columbia
U.P., 2004.
 Nikki Keddie, Modern Iran: Roots of Revolution, 2nd ed. (Yale 2003).
 Kanan Makiya, Cruelty and Silence.
 Lawrence G. Potter and Gary Sick, eds., Iran, Iraq, and the Legacies of War, (Palgrave, 2004).{Late
add}
 Riverbend, Baghdad Burning.
 The New York Times (in the library or online at http://www.nytimes.com); The Washington Post
(www.washingtonpost.com); Christian Science Monitor (www.csmonitor.com).
Supplementary Texts: (recommended for background but definitely not required):
 Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq. Cambridge, 2003.
 David McDowell, A Modern History of the Kurds, 3rd ed.
The Syllabus and Assignments
Week 1: Jan 14 – No class – 1st class is January 21.
Week 2: Jan 21 – Some thoughts on Iraq and Iran Old and New
 Issues: Ancient and Modern Urban Legends
 Reading:
o Juan Cole, “The Difficulty Writing Iraqi History in the United States,” History News Network at
George Mason University, (January 20, 2003), http://hnn.us/articles/1207.html
Week 3: Jan 28 – Iraq in Ottoman Times: I
 Issues: State, society and political culture in Ottoman Iraq. Who are the Iraqis—social structure,
class, sect, tribe, demographics. What is the role of tribe, religion, ethnicity—Sunnis, Shia, Kurds,
Arabs, Turkmen, Chaldeans, Shabak, Yazidis, Persians, Armenians, Wahhabis, Assyrians.
 Reports: What is a shaykh/shaikh/sheikh; agha/peasant; sadah/sayyids; the elites/bureaucrats;
the merchants. {See appropriate chapters in Batatu}
 Required Readings:
o Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and Revolutionary Movements in Iraq. pp. 13-50.
o Marr, 3-19.
o Sami Zubaida, “The Fragments Imagine the Nation: The Case of Iraq,” International Journal of
Middle East Studies (IJMES), vol. 34, no. 2 (May 2002), pp. 205-215
o Nabil al-Tikriti, “Ottoman Iraq,” The Journal of the Historical Society, VII:2 (June 2007), 201-211.
o Nikki Keddie, Modern Iran, pp. 1-57.
Week 4: Feb 4 – Iran in Ottoman Times
 Issues: Political culture in Iraq and Iran in the late 19th–early 20th centuries.
 Required Readings:
o Elizabeth Fernea, The Guests of the Shaykh
 Reports:
o Tobacco Revolt 1890
o Constitutional Movement 1906
 Supplemental Readings:
o Tripp, 1-13; 13-29.
o Thabit Abdullah, Merchants, Mamluks and Murder: the political economy of trade in 18th century Basra
(SUNY, 2001), pp. 1-120.
o Dina Khoury, State and Provincial Society in the Ottoman Empire: Mosul, 1540-1834 (Cambridge,
1998), pp. 156-187
o Gökhan Çetinsaya, The Ottoman Administration of Iraq, 1890-1908 (Routledge, 2006), pp. 4-23
o Karen Kern, “Rethinking Ottoman Frontier Policies: Marriage and Citizenship in the
Province of Iraq,” Arab Studies Journal (Spring 2007), pp. 8-29
o Janet Afary, The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1911
Week 5: Feb 11 – Iraq in the Great War and Peace, 1914-1932
 Issues: British liberation and occupation, the Great Arab Revolt in Iraq1920; the creation of the
Iraqi state and nation; but is it nationalism?
 Reports: King Faysal I, Gertrude Bell, Sati al-Husri
 Required Readings:
o Batatu, The Sharifians, 319-361.
o Yaphe, Judith S. “War and Occupation in Iraq: What Went Right? What Could Go Wrong?”
Middle East Journal 57 (Summer 2003).
o Marr, 21-36.
 Supplemental Readings:
o Tripp, pp. 30-76.
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o Reeva Simon Spector, “The View from Baghdad,” The Creation of Modern Iraq, 1914-1925,
Reeva Simon Spector and Eleanor H. Tejirian, eds., (NY: Columbia, 2004), 36-49.
o Toby Dodge, Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied (Columbia,
2003), pp. 1-156
o Christopher Catherwood, Churchill’s Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq
(NY:2004)
o Peter Sluglett, Contriving King and Country
o Reidar Visser, Basra, the Failed Gulf State: Separatism and Nationalism in Southern Iraq
(Transaction, 2006), pp. 1-12, 73-120
Week 6: Feb 18 – Iraq in the Interwar Period, 1932-1958
 Issues: Rise of the Military in Politics and Revolt, the Coup of the Golden Square.
 Reports: Jafar Pasha al-Askari; Rashid Ali al-Ghaylani, Nuri al-Sa ‘id, Khayrallah Talfah
 Required Readings:
o Reeva Spector Simon, Iraq Between the Two World Wars: the Militarist Origins of Tyranny.
o Sami Zubaida, “Naji: An Iraqi Country Doctor,” in Edmund Burke, ed. Struggle and
Survival in the Modern Middle East (California, 1993), pp. 187-202.
 Supplemental Readings:
o Batatu, 465-482.
o Marr, 37-79; 113-137.
o Tripp, pp. 77-147
Week 7: Feb 25 – Iraq in the Time of Revolution and Republic, 1958-1968
 Guest Speaker: Joost Hiltermann, International Crisis Group on Nationalisms in Iraq: Kurds,
Arabs, Kirkuk and national myths.
 Issues: Iran’s national revolutions—1890 Tobacco Rebellion; 1906 Constitutional Movement;
Mossadegh.
Week 8: Mar 4 – Nationalism in Iraq and Iran
 First research paper due by email no later than 11:59 pm
 Guest Speaker: Murhaf Jouejati on Iraq, Syria, and the Beating Heart of Arabism
 Issues: The new ideologies—Communism, Ba’thism and Clerical Reaction; Iraq in coup mode
 Reports: Abd al-Karim Qassim, Muhammad Baqr al-Sadr, the Al-Hakim, Khomeini in Iraq
 Required Readings:
o Marr, 81-138.
o Nikki Keddie, 1-21; 58-72; 73-104; 123-131; 140-148; 171-213; 214-239; 311-315
o Batatu, pp. 722-807; 808-860
o Faleh A. Jabar, “The Dawa Movement” and “Shia Islamism and the Ba ‘th,” in The Shi’ite
Movement in Iraq (Saqi, 2003), pp. 78-94, 201-263
 Supplemental Readings:
o Tripp, pp. 148-170
o Nadje Al-Ali, Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (Zed, 2007), pp. 56-108
o Eric Davis, Memories of State: Politics, History and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq (California,
2005), pp. 109-147
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o Faleh A. Jabar, The Shi ‘ite Movement in Iraq (Saqi, 2003), pp. 78-94, 128-142, 201-263
o Yitzhak Nakash, The Shi‘is of Iraq (Princeton, 1993), pp. 14-48
o Denise Natali, The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey and Iran (Syracuse,
2005), pp. 26-47
Week 9: Mar 11 – Iran Under Shah and Ayatollah
 Issues: The Islamic Revolution, its Iranian history and Iraqi roots 1978-1979; what is an
Islamic revolution? What is an Islamic state? Can Iraq live with the new neighbor?
 Readings: See previous week.
♣ March 16 – Mar 20 – Spring Break
Week 10: March 25 – Iraq Under Saddam: the early years
 Issues: Who is Saddam? Role of Ba’thism, Arabism and the Cult of Personality in building the
New Iraq. What are Saddam’s instruments of national power—family, tribe, wmd and terror.
 Reports: Khidr Hamza (include ISIS report)
 Required Readings:
o Marr, 139-176.
o Batatu, pp. 1003-1026; 1073-1110.
o Adeed Dawisha, “Identity and Political Survival in Saddam’s Iraq,” Middle East Journal, vol.
53, no. 4 (Autumn 1999).
o Kanan Makiya, Cruelty and Silence {Begin reading}.
 Supplemental Readings:
o Tripp, pp. 170-192
o Khidr Hamza, Saddam’s Bombmaker.
o Nadje Al-Ali, Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (Zed, 2007), pp. 109-146
Week 11: April 1 – Iraq in Authoritarian Times: Saddam’s Middle Period, 1979-1991.
 Issues: Iraq and Iran from the Algiers Accord 1975 thru invasion and the Qadisiyyah War. What
is permanent about war? Why invade Iran? Why was Kuwait selected as the 19th province?
 Reports: The Anfal; Shatt al-Arab: origins of the dispute with Iran (Arvanrud); Mulla Mustafa
Barzani, Mahabad Republic, and founding KDP; Jalal Talabani and PUK
 Required Readings:
o Marr, 177-215; 217-259.
o Shaul Bakhash, “The Troubled Relationship: Iran and Iraq, 1930-1980, Potter/Sick, 1-27.
o Farideh Farhi, “The Antinomies of Iran’s War Generation,” Potter/Sick, 101-120.
o Faleh A. Jaber, “The War Generation in Iraq: A Case of Failed Etatist Nationalism,”
Potter/Sick, 121-140.
 Supplemental Readings:
o Richard Schofield, “Position, Function, and Symbol: The Shatt al-Arab Dispute in
Perspective,” Potter/Sick, 29-70.
o Ken Pollack, Arabs at War, pp. 176-235 {from Kurdish war of 1975 thru end of Iran-Iraq war
1988}
o Denise Natali, The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey and Iran, 48-69.
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o Eric Davis, Memories of State: Politics, History and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq (California,
2005), pp. 148-199
o Nadje Al-Ali, Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (Zed, 2007), pp. 147-170
Week 12: April 8 – Iraq under Sanctions
 Issues: 1991-2003. Why did the 1991 uprisings fail? Why no war for regime change in 1991?
Impact of sanctions, UNSCRs, UNSCOM; building an opposition.
 Reports: Impact of sanctions.
o Khidr Hamza (include ISIS report)
 Required Readings:
o Marr, 261-308.
o Amatzia Baram, “Neo-Tribalism in Iraq: Saddam Husayn’s Tribal Policies, 1991-96, IJMES,
vol. 29, no. 1 (February 1997).
o Joost Hiltermann, “Outsiders as Enablers: Consequences and Lessons from International
Silence on Iraq’s Use of Chemical Weapons during the Iran-Iraq War,” Potter/Sick, 151-166.
o M.R. Izady, “Between Iraq and a Hard Place,” Potter/Sick, 71-99.
 Supplemental Readings:
o Tripp, pp. 193-259; 259-292.
o Ofra Bengio, Saddam’s Word, ch. 6-9.
o Faleh A. Jabar, “ Sheikhs and Ideologues: Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Tribes
under Patrimonial Totalitarianism in Iraq, 1968-1998,” in Tribes and Power: Nationalism and
Ethnicity in the Middle East, eds. Faleh A. Jabar and Hosham Dawod, (Saqi, 2003), pp. 69-109
o Kiren Chaudhry, “On the Way to Market: Economic Liberalization and Iraq’s Invasion of
Kuwait,” Middle East Report 170 (May-June 1991), pp. 14-23
o Sarah Graham-Brown, Sanctioning Saddam (I. B. Tauris, 1998), pp. xiv-xvii, 56-104, 179-243
o Joost Hiltermann, A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq and Halabja
o Nadje Al-Ali, Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present (Zed, 2007), pp. 171-213
o Health reports. {Harvard, Johns Hopkins?}
Week 13: April 15 – Iraq under Liberation and Occupation
 Issues: The build-up to war, planning for the Day After, the not-so-loyal opposition
 Reports: INC, Ahmad Chalabi, Iyad Allawi, and Sharif Ali; SCIRI and the Hakim brothers;
ORHA and Jay Garner; CPA, Paul Bremer and the de-Ba’thification and demilitarization of
Iraq
 Required Readings:
o Riverbend, Baghdad Burning.
o Fiasco
 Supplemental Readings:
o U.S. Army, Instructions for American Servicemen in Iraq During World War II.
o L. Paul Bremer, My Year in Iraq:
o Anthony Shadid, Night Draws Near (Henry Holt, 2005)
o Salam Pax, The Clandestine Diary of an Ordinary Iraqi
o Riverbend, Baghdad Burning II, (NY: Feminist Press, 2006)
o George Packer, The Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq.
o Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainer, Cobra 2
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o Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City (NY: Knopf, 2007)
o Ali Allawi, The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace.
Week 14: April 22 – Continued
 Film: No End in Sight.
April 29 – The Look Ahead
 Final paper due by email no later than 11:59 pm.
 Issues: Making U.S. Policy Towards the New Iraq; elections, democracy and national
reconciliation
 Reports: Issues and Options
o Centralized or decentralized?
o Oil and water?
o Secular or Religious?
o Constitutionalism: strict or liberal?
o Reconcilable or irreconcilable?
 Required Readings:
 Supplemental Readings:
o Peter Galbraith, The End of Iraq.
o The Iraq Study Group (Baker-Hamilton Commission)
o International Crisis Group, In Their Own Words: Reading the Iraqi Insurgency (February 2006)
o International Crisis Group, Iraq and the Kurds: Resolving the Kirkuk Crisis (April 2007)
o Reidar Visser, “Basra, the Reluctant Seat of ‘Shiastan’,” Middle East Report 242 (Spring 2007),
pp. 23-28
o ICG, Shi’a Religious Institution, November 2007
o Yitzhak Nakash, Reaching for Power: The Shi‘a in the Modern Arab World (Princeton, 2006), pp.
72-98
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