3 - The Failure of Legitimate Rule in Iraq

Summary

Colonies do not cease to be colonies because they are independent.

– Benjamin Disraeli

If alien rule can only be legitimated by effective and fair rule, then it follows that the absence of either or both of these conditions should result in an illegitimate regime that is likely to face resistance and social disorder. Such has been the fate of modern Iraq. Modern Iraq was initially ruled by aliens: first by the Ottomans and then by the British. Thereafter the territory – divided as it is into predominantly Sunni, Shi’i, and Kurdish territorial zones – was ruled by native Sunni Muslims. None of these various regimes attained much legitimacy, however, and as a result modern Iraq has had a turbulent history.

In their attempts to contain this turbulence, the different rulers of Iraq experimented with various forms of rule. Sometimes, they granted native Arabs substantial authority within their localities. At other times, they wrested authority from natives and tried to rule localities from central locations such as Istanbul or Baghdad. The strategy of granting natives local authority is known as indirect rule. The alternative strategy – which is akin to alien rule – is known as direct rule. Neither strategy was particularly effective, however, and this chapter explains why.