The violent republics
| al-Jamahiriyat al-aanifa
AL-ROUBAIEE Fadel
al-Ahali , Syria , Damascus , 2005 , 278 pages
Contents
Chapter I : Red – white – black [ a. Birth of the Jamahiriya (populist) party ; b. The crowd’s first crime ; c. The predator crowd ; d. The shock of the popular republics ; e. The leftists facing the oil lakes ; f. When the party despises its members ]
Chapter II : The charismatic state [ a. The throne of Pharaoh, the throne of Assur ; b. Despotism is a popular industry ; c. Modernization and the Iraqi commands (knowledge, despotism, people) ]
Chapter III : The modernization crisis [ a. For the crowds to return home ; b. Difficult modernization: Faysal the 1st and the concept of State ; c. Ideas and new concepts ; d. End of the charismatic state ; e. From violence to rituals ; f. The new Molla ]
The author, a Shiite and one-time communist, analyses the history of contemporary Iraq, its recurring themes, historic events and their consequences, through the different popular parties, their constitutions, ambitions, roles and failures, while focusing on the complex relationships within Iraqi society. His analysis concentrates on the period between the first republic of 1958 and the fall of Baghdad in 2003.