Suchergebnisse

IN AN ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE THE MERITS OF NEUTRALIZATION IN THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONTEXT, THIS ARTICLE ANALYZES THE ESSENCE OF THIS CONCEPT AND THE FACTORS WHICH BEAR UPON ITS POLITICAL FEASIBILITY. IT ALSO DELINEATES THE PROPOSED NEUTRALIZATION PACKAGE AND INDICATES THE REGIONAL AND GLOBAL ADVANTAGES RESULTING FROM ITS IMPLEMENTATION.

In the case of the Iran-Iraq war, the general cause is often attributed to the ethnic and religious divide that has separated Arabs and Persians, Shi'i and Sunni Muslims since at least the seventh century. This article offers an alternative explanation. It argues that geopolitics is the most important single factor that has influenced Iranian-Iraqi relations for generations and, in consequence, accounts for the outbreak of the war. More concretely, the war began because the weaker state, Iraq, attempted to resist the hegemonic aspirations of its stronger neighbor, Iran, to reshape the regional status quo according to its own image. (DÜI-Hns)

THIS ARTICLE PRESENTS THREE INTERCONNECTED ARGUMENTS. FIRST, THE IRAQI INVASION OF IRAN DID NOT EMANATE FROM A PREMEDIATED GRAND DESIGN BUT WAS A PREEMPTIVE MOVE INTENDED TO FORESTALL THE IRANIAN THREAT TO THE EXISTENCE OF THE BOATH REGIME BY DESTROYING OPPOSING FORCES AND DENYING TERRITORY. SECOND, IRAQ DID NOT OVERESTIMATE ITS MILITARY POWER: IN 1980 IT ENJOYED AN UNDENIABLE MILITARY EDGE. THIRD, IRAQ'S MISTAKE WAS THAT IT DID NOT USE ITS ADVANTAGE DECISIVELY. IRAQ'S STRATEGY FAILED BECAUSE ITS OBJECTIVES WERE TOO LIMITED.