Development and political violence in Iraq, 1950--1990

This dissertation examines the development experience of Iraq from 1950 to 1990. The first date is chosen because most social and economic data become available roughly only after that time, while the terminal date corresponds to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the imposition of economic sanctions. The chosen dates thus represent a period of relative stability in which the development experience of the country can be evaluated.; The question of how development is to be evaluated naturally arises. It is shown in Chapter 1 that there exist significant ethnic and religious differences, a generally wide gap between the government and the people, and a traditionally high level of political violence. Also, it is shown in Chapter 2 that the economy is largely unbalanced; as a result, the living standards of the majority of the population were very low in 1950. In light of these findings, it is argued that the human development approach provides the best way of evaluating development and questions regarding which dimensions are to be evaluated are discussed.; Specifically, human development measures in the following areas are studied: growth in per capita income; education; the provision of basic services, nutrition, and health; the position of women; and human rights and political freedoms. These are discussed in Chapters 3 to 7. Various issues and questions, such as the origin of the Iran-Iraq war (which is discussed in Chapter 7), are briefly explored along the way.; The findings are summarized and discussed in Chapter 8. There is a striking lack of correspondence between human rights and political freedom and the other dimensions of human development, and two explanations for this dissimilarity are explored and evaluated. Finally, suggestions for future research are presented.