Iraq's foreign policy and relations with Iran; In the light of the change of political rulers of Iraq (after the fall of Saddam 2003-2022)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Doctoral student of Political Sociology, Razi University, Kermanshah.Iran.

2 - Doctoral student of Political Sociology, Razi University, Kermanshah.Iran.

Abstract

Due to its geopolitical weight and potential economic capacity, the country of Iraq is one of the important players in the Middle East region, and despite the change of different political regimes in Iraq since the 1920s, the country's foreign policy has mainly entailed various political and security costs for Iran. But the fall of Saddam in March 2003 caused new geopolitical changes in foreign policy and relations of this country with its neighbors. With the establishment of the new political system in Iraq, regional and extra-regional actors, including Iran and America, have tried to overshadow the decision-making circles in Iraq's foreign policy and have tried to make their behavior appear more legitimate in the eyes of the Iraqi government and society. Leading research, while raising the question that; What are the effective institutions or drivers in the foreign policy of Iraqi governments after 2003 and what are the decisions and direction of Iraq's foreign policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran in the new government of this country? While pointing out the effective circles in the field of Iraq's foreign policy, it tries to analyze the approaches of modern Iraqi foreign policy, especially after the 2021 parliamentary elections towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, in an analytical and descriptive way. The hypothesis of the article is that Iraqi political institutions and structures are the main shapers of foreign policy decisions, and actors like the prime minister are almost the only executors of decisions, and it is this structure that shapes the agent's actions. The findings of the research show that the competition between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States and the actors aligned with them is still ongoing and this process will continue due to the performance and willingness of the new Iraqi decision makers to interact with the United States. In order to theoretically examine the topics, Hilsman's institutional analytical model has been used. 

Keywords

References

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Mesopotamian Political Studies
Volume 2, Issue 2
September 2023

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History

  • Receive Date: 30 August 2023
  • Revise Date: 22 September 2023
  • Accept Date: 23 September 2023

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