Review Nicole Watts, Republic of Dreams, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Struggles, and the Future of Iraqi Kurdistan, New York University Press, 2025

Watts, Nicole, Republic of Dreams, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Struggles, and the Future of Iraqi Kurdistan, New York University Press, 2025

 

Republic of Dreams, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Struggles, and the Future of Iraqi Kurdistan by Nicole Watts is a fantastic book following a Kurdish family from Halabja in eastern Iraqi Kurdistan. It starts with the gas attack upon Halabja during the Iran-Iraq War and ends with the COVID pandemic. It tries to document how an average Kurdish family lived and dealt with the major events in modern Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 23 CPA disbanded Iraq’s military

 

1919 Persian Kurds under orders of Barzinji took Sulaymaniya town Barzinji then declared himself

ruler of all Kurdistan

This Day In Iraqi History - May 22 Patriotic Union of Kurdistan formed

 

1941 Iraq attempt to recapture Fallujah failed

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)

(Musings On Iraq interview World War II In Iraq and Syria Interview With Case Western’s Prof Broich)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 21 Treaty of Arzurum set line between Ottoman and Persian empires with Iraq as border area

 

1847 Treaty of Arzurum tried to set border between Ottoman Empire and Persia Gave

Sulaymaniya to Ottomans Shatt al-Arab to Persia Set up commission to demarcate border between Ottomans and Persia but never finished

(Musings On Iraq review An Analysis of Hanna Batatu’s The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq)

New Personal Status Law Causes Legal Chaos In Iraq

Al Mada reported that the new Personal Status Law is leading to legal chaos in Iraq. There is confusion over whether courts should apply civil law or let the different religious institutions to decide cases. Men are also appealing their divorce and custody cases hoping to get more favorable rulings from religious authorities.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 20 Bush said he opposed lifting sanctions on Iraq as long as Saddam in power

 

1917 Sharif Hussein of Nijaz agreed to UK control of Baghdad vilayet after WWI

Iraq’s Public Employment Policies Unsustainable

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently said that the Iraqi government’s public employment policies are unsustainable. It is a drain upon the economy which is dependent upon fluctuating oil prices.