A Study of the Nature of Iraqi Society

Description

Archaeologists agree that Iraq was the cradle of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. Egypt shares this distinction, though some scholars debate which civilization predates the other. This is not the crucial point, however. What matters is understanding that Iraq has nurtured a flourishing civilization since the dawn of human history. Civilization has continued to flourish in Iraq, time and again. During the Abbasid Caliphate, Iraq became a center of global civilization, its capital, Baghdad, a vast social melting pot where the essence of humanity’s cultural heritage was fused.

On the other hand, researchers find Iraq situated on the edge of a fertile source of Bedouin life: the Arabian Peninsula. From the beginning of its history to the present day, Iraq has received successive waves of Bedouin migration. Some of these waves arrived through military conquest, while others came gradually. Both of these waves inevitably influence Iraqi society, to a greater or lesser degree, spreading Bedouin values ​​and attempting to permeate its various classes and strata.

Here, the researcher finds the Iraqi people caught between two contradictory systems of social values: the Bedouin values ​​emanating from the neighboring desert, and the values ​​of civilization stemming from their ancient cultural heritage. In such a situation, it is expected that the people will suffer a social and psychological conflict across generations. On the one hand, they cannot remain firmly attached to their urban values ​​for long, because the desert periodically sends waves that disrupt their social stability. On the other hand, they cannot fully embrace Bedouin life, as the civilization born from the abundance of water and the fertility of their land compels them to adapt the imported Bedouin values ​​to their specific circumstances. The Iraqi people might be described as a bewildered people; two opposing paths have opened before them, and they are forced to walk both simultaneously, sometimes on one path and sometimes on the other.