The Situation of Iraq: Negative Impacts Upon its Current Economic and Political Situation - Research Paper Example

 Iraq – Major Developments in Twentieth Century Iraq is important oil rich country of the Middle East region located at a strategic position between Iran and Kuwait and shares border with Persian Gulf (William and Fisher, 2004). The country has faced many ups and downs in reaching to its current state. The twentieth century was an eventful century for Iraq as it went through some transformational changes during these hundred years (McDowall, 2004). Unfortunately the country faced violent incidents throughout its history that have also drawn negative impacts upon its current economic and political situation and at present the country posses highly destabilized economical, political and social conditions (Tripp, 2007). The history of the country in the twentieth century could be traced backed to western colonialism when the British forces invaded Mesopotamia and occupied the territory of Iraq. After few years, the British Colonial Officer created Kuwait by carving the border of southern Iraq that was invaded by Saddam Hussian after seven years claiming that it was basically the part of Iraq (McDowall, 2004). The country got the status of a sovereign nation in 1923 when it joined the League of Nations. Later in 1945, it joined United Nations and founded Arab League. The Arab Israeli war broke out in 1948 in order to protect the Palestine rights and the participation of Iraq in this war draw very damaging effects upon its economic and political position (Fawn and Raymond, 2006). In 1948, the Britain sway in military policy was decided to extend till 1973 through a new treaty however; the violent activities of British troops destabilized the situation many people were shot dead by the police and military that ultimately resulted in the termination of the treaty. After the phase of protest and violent, the British military mission was finally withdrawn from Iraq and Martial Law was declared in the country. In 1958, the 14 July Revolution ended the old regime and the country was proclaimed a republic while killing the members of the royal family. Many US and Jordanian businessmen were also killed and there was high level violation of law and order in the country. The communist party supported the government of Abdul Karim Qasim who took the charge of the country as head of nation and commander in chief of armed forces (William and Fisher, 2004). The war between Kurds and government started in 1961 that remained until 1975 and many people were killed and displaced during this war (Fawn and Raymond, 2006). The guerrilla warfare was started against state in 1967 that was defeated within few years after the Baath party came in the power (McDowall, 2004). In 1979, Saddam Hussain became the President of the Iraq Republic and acquired concentrated powers in his hands. The Iran-Iraq broke out in 1980 that was followed by War of the cities in 1985, when both of the countries started firing missiles at the capital cities of each others. The Kurdish revolt also added to the violence between the rebellions and the government. The bombing and killing incidents continued to kill several people in order to crush eh revolt. In 1988, Iran and Iraq agreed to ceasefire brining end to the Gulf War (Tripp, 2007). The situation of Iraq took a new turn by the end of the twentieth century when the issue of mass destruction weapons was raised by US and British officials. Iraq also faced UN sanctions during 1990s that result in food shortage and miseries of the general public of Iraq (William and Fisher, 2004). The cooperation of the Iraqi government with the UN weapon inspection team always remained an important point of concern for the involved parties especially for US. In 1998, the US President Bill Clinton allowed the air strikes on the government targets and military facilities that continued till 2002. The policy finally led to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 when American President George Bush initiated the attacks on Iraq territory claiming the presence of weapons of mass destruction in the country. Iraq was occupied by the coalition forces led by the American and British army forces. In May 2003, the UN economic sanctions against Iraq were lifted and the occupied forces attempted to rebuild the economy. Saddam Hussain was captured on 13th December 2003 and sentenced to death on the charges of long list of military crimes. The insurgency carried on between the occupied forces and the local protesting groups. The new government was formed in Iraq in 2006 aimed to maintain security in Iraq, however, the violence continued and many acts of bombing and mass killings are being reported on daily basis. The coalition forces are still present in Iraq attempting to create peace but the efforts seem fruitless as the country faces high level of violence and violation of human rights and law and order (Tripp, 2007). Current Economic Situation Iraq has an oil based economy as it possesses huge oil resources to support its economic development but unfortunately, the high political destabilization and history of violence and rebel hindered the economic growth of the country. Earlier, almost 90 percent of the foreign exchange earnings were contributed by the petroleum sector and the government revenues are also formed by the oil sector. However, the political situation of the country has badly affected the growth and performance of oil sector and there is considerable decline observed in productivity of the oil sector. The GDP growth rate has become 7.8 percent (as of 2008). The unemployment rate has reached the level of 18 percent officially whereas the nonofficial resources claim it more than 30 percent (CIA Fact Sheet). The corruption has demoralized the local and foreign work force and considerable part of oil production is also siphoned off due to corruption and smuggling. There is also critical need to restructure the banking and private sector so that these sectors can play positive role in the economic development of the country (Tripp, 2007). Recently, there is some level of improvement brought in the situation due to decrease in the attacks of insurgents. The relatively improved environmental security claims to improve the economic situation as well. In 2009, IMF and Iraq concluded Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to induce economic reforms in the country. The government has also adopted the strategy to form joint ventures with state owned enterprises in order to increase the participation of foreign companies (Tripp, 2007). These steps are expected to bring improvement in the overall economic scenario of the country, however, the environmental stability and certainty is required to witness the success of these steps and strategies. Major Challenges At present, Iraq faces number of challenges that act as barrier to the economic and social development of the country. At international level, the image of the country is badly destroyed due to the ongoing invasion of US and allied forces. The claims about the presence of mass destruction weapons raised several issues regarding the security and stability of the businesses due to which high level of uncertainty prevails in the business sector of the country that discourage the foreign investors to initiate any project here. The major challenged faced by the government and operating authorities in Ira include maintenance of law and order situation, restoration of economic development process and political stability (William and Fisher, 2004).. The incidents of bombing and target killing occurred daily in the country that has resulted in the killing of thousand of militants as well as innocent civilians after the US invasion of Iraq. The country has long history of violence and warfare however, there is need to bring long term peace in the country so that it can effectively use the available resources and make positive contribution towards the global economic development process. The international organizations and human right activists are required to take some solid steps towards the improvement of the situation in the country to step the killing of people. The insurgency must be handled effectively to end it without blood shedding of innocent people because the country has already lost millions of people during the last few decades as a result of political insurgency and turmoil. (Fawn and Raymond, 2006) References David McDowall, (2004), a Modern History of the Kurds, I.B. Tauris, 2004, ISBN 1850434166, pp. 359 Fawn, Rick, Hinnebusch, Raymond (2006), The Iraq War: Causes and Consequences" Lynne Rienner Publishers, London, 2006, p.212 Tripp, Charles (2007), "A History of Iraq" Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007, p.96 William Ochsenwald and Sydney N. Fisher (2004), The Middle East: A History, 768 pp., McGraw Hill, 2004, pg 659 Read More