Iraq: Section 3 - Analysis

摘要

After struggling for years under the repressive control of the Baath Party (1963-2003) and the brutal regime of dictator Saddam Hussein (1979-2003), Iraq today remains burdened by the long-term process of building a representative, democratic central government that exerts control over all 18 provinces within its borders. The young Iraqi government finds itself surrounded by suspicious neighbors who after spending years dealing with the capricious Hussein and his dreams of aggrandizement, had determined that the best strategy was to isolate the dictator. Now, after years of random acts of violence, a nebulous insurgency, sectarian rifts, and 2 million refugees exiting the country, Iraq's neighbors eye the situation in the country warily in some cases, opportunely in others.