Iran, Iraq, and the Legacies of War.

• Author: Lozowy, Lesia
• Position: Book review

IRAN, IRAQ, AND THE LEGACIES OF WAR Lawrence G. Potter and Gary G. Sick, ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 224 pages.

Iran, Iraq, and the Legacies of War is a collection of papers drawn from an international conference that challenged scholars from Iran and Iraq to examine relations between their respective nations. The highly complex and strained relationship between Iran and Iraq is marked by internal and external pressures, including local multi-ethnic and secular interests, competing authoritarian hegemonies, as well as wider geopolitical influences from neighbouring Gulf states and the international community. Consequently, the papers presented in this book extract the most salient issues responsible for tensions between Iran and Iraq, focusing on the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988.

Of particular note is Shaul Bakhash's essay that traces periods of coexistence and friction between Iraq and Iran from 1930 to 1980, including the Iraqi revolution of 1958 and the Islamic revolution in Iran that led to Iraq's decision to invade Iran in order to assert itself as the preeminent state in the region. M.R. Izady examines the plight of Kurds in Iran and Iraq, including how Kurdish insurgencies...