CRITICAL THINKING ON BAGHDAD

Introduction

Baghdad; Iraq’s capital has undergone numerous political, economic, social and legal changes over the past few years. It can be argued that these changes have been as result of the US led invasion of Iraq, however, other experts hold the opinion that the Iraqis themselves are to blame for their current circumstances. The paper shall critically analyze some conflicting issues in Iraq with specific reference to the City of Baghdad.

Urban connectedness, anomies, placelessness
During the nineteen seventies, the City of Baghdad boasted of economic prosperity. At that time, the world’s petroleum prices went up and this was what Iraq relied on to export their commodities. (Fisk, 98)However, a decade later, Iraq was plagued with the Iraq-Iran conflict and this drained their resources and time. In the following decade (the nineties) Baghdad city was still faced with numerous challenges owing to the Gulf war. This took a toll on the City’s power, transportation and sanitary infrastructure. This was again followed by the US led invasion of the country in the year 2003. After all these conflicts, Baghdad’s urban interconnectedness was deeply wounded as it was a far cry from what it could have been without all these challenges.

The first thing that one needs to analyze when looking at urban interconnectedness is the issue of culture. Culture is the platform that can unite urban residents. Consequently, when culture is deeply prevalent in a respective region or City in this case, then chances are that its urban interconnectedness will also be high. However, one ought not to undermine the issues of diversity. For real interconnectedness to occur, cultures must be able to coexist with one another. The policies governing such cities must be such that they promote and sustain adequate mix of various cultures while at the same time promoting cultural heritage. Cultural identity has a huge role to play in determining whether there is cohesion between citizens of a given City such as Baghdad.

Given the latter fact, it is essential for one to relate the current situation in Baghdad to the issue of culture and hence urban interconnectedness. Currently, Baghdad has a number of cultures that represent differing groups. These differences emanate from religious differences between City residents; with some being moderate Muslims while others are extremists. Additionally, the City is plagued by cultural differences propagated by the ongoing war. The war has brought foreign occupation with the largest share emanating from the United States. The cultural differences between these groups cannot be overstated. Lastly, these differences in culture have also been brought about by differing political ideologies with some people supporting the former Saddam regime while others are opposing them. Consequently, one can assert that the level of cohesion between City dwellers in Baghdad is a far cry from what it should be. (Dyer, 59)

However, some opponents to the latter assertions claim that native Iraqis still have a deep sense of urban interconnectedness. They add that most of the problems began after the US led invasion of this country and that this City would have remained intact if this was not the case.

Holding such a view tends to ignore Iraq’s history which clearly shows how Iraq was in constant tension with its surroundings and it had the ability to change their state of affairs over these past decades.

When defined in the context of specific individuals, anomie largely refers to the lack of standards and values. When defined in the context of a society, anomie refers to an overall level of social unrest. Emile Durkheim was one of the authors who dwelt on this matter in detail. He asserted that an anomic state was one in which there are no norms to govern that society. It should be noted here that while rules are officially reinforced, norms are created socially and are also depicted in this particular arena. Consequently, a state or City that is in a state of anomie may be described as a place where people lack a sense of right and wrong. Additionally, such individuals tend to be alienated, dissocialized and isolated. (Wise and Baron, 193)

The latter author also asserted that anomie within any society occurs when that respective society is affected by certain economic changes. This may either be positive or negative for that particular group. When the changes take place, the prevailing values held by society may not be easily achievable through the prevailing economic means. This causes a sense of disillusionment among the populace and thus anomie.

Given the current circumstances in Iraq, some people believe that this city is yet to reach a state of anomie. They argue that Iraq has been facing wars and conflicts over the past three decades and consequently dealing with the current US occupation is nothing new. As a result, proponents of this school of thought believe that the City’s inhabitants have grown accustomed to war and the changes that emanated out of the recent ones are similar to those changes that occurred in previous wars.

However, there is considerable evidence to show how the Iraqi economy and hence Baghdad’s economy have been destroyed prior to 2003. Consequently, holders of the previous argument have not considered the fact that this war has stretched the Iraqi people. Baghdad’s inhabitants may not be exposed to numerous resources or avenues for earning a living after the US led attack. This is the reason why most of their youth have reported to joining organized terrorist associations that are well funded and that can provide them with adequate means of survival. Besides this, Baghdad has been rated as one of the most dangerous cities to live in the world. This clearly depicts that the members of this City are now resorting to lawlessness in order to meet their needs.

Placelessness in society is largely a product of lacking social and political structures within a respective area. When this is the case, then chances are that one is likely to dissociate themselves from their respective dwelling and thus experience a sense of placelessness.

For the case, of Baghdad, residents there have been undergoing so many challenges that it can be extremely easy to understand why they do not feel safe. When a twenty five year old Baghdad resident; Ali was asked about his sentiments towards his country, he quickly replied that he has lost pride in his people. He said that it was his wish to leave Baghdad and Iraq altogether because his country could not provide him with what he was entitled to. In other words, he expected peace, education, health and basic services such as water. Ali asserted that in Baghdad, doctors were overwhelmed by all the casualties that they have to deal with and resources are not adequate enough to handle the problem. Additionally, many youngsters cannot continue with higher education because most of their institutions have been destroyed. Their administrative systems are not working well and hence coordination of basic services such as water cannot be done effectively. (Malone, 45)
In other words, people in Baghdad have lost all the pride that comes with belonging to a certain country. Most of them are grappling with these challenges and they do not know which way forward for them. They have a sense of placelessness; their homes have been destroyed and their means of earning a living have also been eliminated. This has made it very difficult to cope with the situation.

Placelessness has also been depicted by the alienation of the people of Baghdad out of their City and their country. Iraqi refugees are found in many parts of the Middle East. Also, most of them have spread into other parts of the world to escape the turmoil in their country. Consequently, what would have been their City or what would have been their country has now been left desolate. In escaping their situations, the Iraqis have acquired refugee status where most of them experience a lack of placelessness because they do not live in what were originally their homes in Baghdad. (Fisk, 98)

Meshings of global and local in daily life
Daily life in Baghdad clearly depicts global forces. There are a number of ways in which this has occurred. For instance, in the year 2004 when an Arabian leader Prince Yetsin was assassinated by the Israelis, there were demonstrations by citizens of Iraq in Baghdad. Additionally, the continuous Gulf war and Iran Iraq conflict are just some of the illustrations of global interactions. Since most of the time these interactions occur negatively, then the effects are revealed in everyday lives of Baghdad residents. Suicide bombs and constant gunshots by such forces are examples of how this affects them every day.

However, the most outstanding depiction of how global and local forces have intertwined in the Iraqi Capital occurred after the US led invasion of the country. US was at the frontline of the war but they did not conduct these attacks on their own. They had the support of a number of western nations such as Britain but faced opposition from others such as France and Germany. Additionally, US led forces were also backed by the United Nations which is itself a global institution. The presence of all these parties in Baghdad represented how globalization could be re-enacted in people’s local life.

A number of US soldiers have caused the injuries of many people especially both deliberately (when attacking insurgents) or accidentally (in the case of civilians). Time and time again people residing in Baghdad face the imminent danger that they will become the next victims of this never ending war in the country.

Through Baghdad, it is possible to see how western countries can be in opposition to one another. The UN which is meant to represent the interests of the world has changed drastically over the past few years. Adherents to this school of thought believe that Baghdad has illustrated how the UN’s peace keeping efforts have been biased by supreme powers such as the United States and the UK. These proponents claim that the UK and the US have taken international law into their own hands by imposing their agenda in Baghdad. Consequently, it can be said that the people of Baghdad are living their local lives based on global ideas. It should also be noted that many Baghdad residents actually associate the United Nations with the US because this is what they have experienced there.

Some Baghdad residents also argue that their country under the Saddam Hussein Regime may have been better than their country under foreign powers such as the United States, these adherents claim that so many lives have been lost under the US invasion to the point that the now resent global forces in whichever way. (Brzezinski, 200)

Global life has also manifested itself locally in Baghdad through some of the ideological differences manifesting themselves in this city. Most of the suicide bombs launched against US soldiers, and the missile attacks made against the people of Baghdad area as a result of the ideologies driving the war. In order to fully understand how global life is a reality in local Baghdad, it is essential to place the US-Iraq war in context.

After the September eleventh attacks, the United States populace was driven to a state of fear. Most of them felt very vulnerable; and realized that terrorism was a harsh reality in their world. In order to curb its effects, they felt that it was necessary for them to fight global terrorism. In fact the Bush administration used the issue of global terrorism as one of the major reasons for attacking Iraq and hence Baghdad. President Bush asserted that the Al-Qaida was responsible for those attacks and that by invading Iraq, they could bring an end to the problems inherent in their country. This justification for the war was what eventually led to the rising casualties that were present in Baghdad after 2003. Global terrorism is a global agenda that has seen manifestations in the daily lives of the Iraqis.

On the other hand, some people believe that fighting global terrorism was not the reason why Baghdad is undergoing so many problems from the War. These proponents claim that the real reason behind the war was to privatize Iraq’s economy. These critics assert that through the war, the country’s constitutional structures were to be replaced by foreign made ones. Even the interim administration chosen reflected the agenda put forward by the US. Consequently, this could allow some foreign companies interested in Iraqi’s treasures to invest in this country. Adherents to this principle thus claim that Baghdad and other Iraq areas represent how global ideologies of free trade and liberalization could be imposed upon people of other nations of the world. They actually believe that the global war on terror was a cover up and that the United States was using forceful means (military force) to impose liberal ideas i.e. free trade. (Gupta, 28)

While the latter assertions may seem a bit extreme, there is some element of truth in both schools of thought. First of all, through the war in Iraq and the casualties in Baghdad, it can be seen that global terrorism has a role to play since certain activities supporting this claim have occurred in Iraq; one such example is suicide bombings carried out by religious extremists in the Capital. However, it is misguided to assume that terrorist forces are harbored in Iraq alone. In fact, the Al-Qaida is a global network that largely survives by recruiting different countries of the Islamic world. The second school of thought also holds some truth because of the fact that global ideologies such as neo-liberal trade are becoming an important trait in justifying the situation in Baghdad. However, it has been applied through double standards because the methods used to spread this ideology were forceful rather than peaceful.

Asianization of Europeanized worlds
Many European worlds have now awoken to the reality of Asian countries. The Asian continent has attracted a lot of attention over the past few years owing to the fact that through their advances in their economy, they were able to propagate greater interconnectedness between themselves and the world. However, this explanation largely fits the South East Asian countries such as China and Taiwan. The latter countries have witnessed unprecedented economic prosperity and have gained international recognition as one of the world’s superpowers. Consequently, this has given them leverage to propagate their culture, their people and their ideologies in formerly Europeanized worlds. (Vali, 69)

However, the same explanation does not apply to South West Asian countries such as Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. Iraq underwent a decade of dictatorial rule, frequent conflicts with its neighbors and now the US –Iraq war. This country has witnessed so much economic degradation and social upheaval. The country’s capital is the epitome of these realities. In reaction to such negative occurrences, the people of Baghdad have looked to other Europeanized parts of the world to settle there. Most of them have settled in other countries and established their identities as foreign Iraqis. These immigrants have also spread some their cultural aspects about themselves in Europeanized world through interactions with natives and also through their literature, music etc. Consequently, through the negative situation in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, the people of Iraq have spread to other parts of the world and Asianized them.

The other argument that can be used to illustrate Asianization of Europeanized worlds is through the adoption of Asian based ideologies throughout the world. Through the war in Iraq and the occurrences in Baghdad, Europeanized nations have become exposed to some of the occurrences in the Muslim world. They have come to understand what sort of ideologies the people of Iraq hold. Additionally European worlds now realize that the people of Baghdad merely want the same things that they do i.e. health care, education and the like. (Allen, 14)

Another aspect that illustrates this phenomenon is related to unity in opposition. Most people in Baghdad oppose US occupation of their country, and they have given reasons for doing so (some of them include no working constitution and rising insurgencies) the rest of the world has been looking at the occurrences in Baghdad and they have also shown their support for the protection of the Iraqi people. Consequently, one can assert that certain Europeanized worlds (especially those ones who are adequately exposed to fair media are actually on the side of the Iraqis rather on the US side. This common goal has brought about Asianization of some of these worlds.

Competitive knowledge based economies (K economies)
A knowledge based economy is one in which the labor market involved is highly educated. Additionally, those workers usually utilize information communication technologies in their work processes. This is also coupled by value addition that arises out of the use of these applications. What this means for the country under consideration is that they can become more internationally competitive. However, knowledge based economies need not be adopted at the expense of production based economies. For instance, other parts of the world have intertwined knowledge based economics with production based economics through the use of these technologies in agriculture. This has created greater value for their products.

It should be noted that Baghdad specifically and Iraq in general have undergone a lot of turmoil. Most parts of the City lack access to many basic services or commodities such as water. Consequently, there may be assumptions that knowledge based economies have no place in this City. However, because Iraq is operating in a global landscape, then they need to embrace this kind of approach. Some parts have started but much is yet to be done. This can be seen by the fact that some Baghdad residents like to shop online or by the way most of them are rushing to international institutions of higher learning. Knowledge based economics can be the right approach to get Iraq back on its feet again owing to the fact that it is an oil rich country and the world highly depends on it. (Dyer, 59)

Contested legal structures
Establishment of sound governance in Baghdad has been rather problematic because of the ongoing conflict in this area. Most of the problems faced by these inhabitants are actually linked to the deterioration of legal structures within this area.
In order for any country to boast of sound legal structures, then the power of the state must seem to be prevalent in this area. Consequently, Iraq lacked this state control after the seizure of its government by the US led attack. This means that high crime rates have occurred in this country. One such example occurred after close to two hundred and thirty thousand worth of artifacts were stolen from the Baghdad Museum. There are numerous businesses in this City that have largely been destroyed by the conflict and this has brought about a lot of tension between the interest groups involved in the war.

One of the methods that the United States used to handle this problem was through the institution of an interim civil administration. In Baghdad, this was called the Coalition Provisional Authority. The selection of representatives for this group was largely based upon a US led process. However, representatives were obtained from the Iraqi people themselves. It was a tedious process that saw the creation of a thirty nine member Baghdad Council. The United States justified the creation of these representatives using a number of reasons. They asserted that this was their way of ensuring that the political sensitivities associates with having a military administration were eradicated. The US also justified this by claiming that the new administration would act as a neutral party that would eventually stop a civil war in Baghdad. Additionally, they asserted that the group would also be essential in fostering unity that would be placed under threat due to the war.

However opponents to this US involvement have claimed that the latter administration was not able to achieve these goals. In fact, after ousting out the Saddam regime, there were a number of problems that sprung up in Baghdad that overwhelmed the interim administration. First of all, there were religious and ethnic clashes between differing groups in the City and these conflicts continued to deepen some of the rising cases of insecurity between these two groups. Additionally, there was a lot of political violence that was as a result of national issues but were manifested nationally especially in Baghdad. As if this was not enough, shadow networks began cropping up and the legal structures created undue loopholes. (Gupta, 48)

Holders of the latter school of thought also believed that the United States had no business interfering in Iraq’s administrative issues. They claimed that the United States wanted to control the goings on within this country and that the Iraqis had a right to control their own destiny. Consequently, they felt that in order to put this point across, it was necessary for some of the Iraqi leaders to boycott the efforts made by the US. One example of a group that had continuously opposed these US led efforts was the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution. The latter group was a Shiite organization that firmly opposed US involvement claiming that this was replacement of one oppressive regime with another.

It can be seen that the latter schools of thought contradict one another. One school of thought proposes the fact that US led administrative efforts is actually useful to the Iraqi people because it ousted an oppressive regime.

However, the other school of thought disregards both the Saddam regime and US involvement. In fact, there have been numerous demonstrations in Baghdad designed to illustrate the country’s discontent with the latter issue. Most of these demonstrators claim that they do not want either the US or Saddam allied forces leading them. Some of these demonstrations have been violently disrupted but they still manage to send a strong message.

Perhaps the most appropriate method of dealing with this issue is by accepting that the Iraqi people have the right to govern themselves and minimizing US influence over them. However, because of the warring religious, ethnic and political factions in Iraq, some external intervention is necessary. Since the United States has already played their part in the restoration of administrative and legal structures, then another country that will have a bipartisan approach should be asked to intervene. This may be one of the most suitable ways of handling the matter. If no legal structures are agreed upon soon, then chances are that Baghdad’s bad state may get worse.

Source: The BBC (2003): Who’s who in post Saddam Iraq; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2950371.stm
The diagram above is an illustration of a US led team that was selected immediately after the 2003 invasion. Its purpose was to come up with the most effective legal and administrative structures. However, the latter meeting was boycotted by Shiite leaders who opposed the appointment of US envoys in the meeting. (Gupta, 60)
Norms and abnorms

It can be argued that norms and abnorms have now been intertwined in the City of Baghdad. One only has to see some of the challenges that lay ahead of these inhabitants to realize the intensity of the situation. Five years after the invasion, Baghdad is grappling with the effects of the war that have redefined what norms and abnorms are in the eyes of the world. The overall state in this City is that of turmoil. This has largely been as a result of the following;
• Groups loyal to former regimes
• Terrorist attacks on civilians
• Terrorist attacks on US troops
• Tribal feuds
• Religious sectarian differences

Because of all these issues, the City of Baghdad is frequently in the news. Most of the time, one might hear of bombings that occurred in a public place such as a market or the like. Additionally, it is common to hear of kidnappings by one group or another. The people kidnapped may sometimes be killed for the price of spreading a message of fear. The number of casualties in Baghdad hospitals are overwhelming with numerous civilians having died in the hands of these groups or the US Army itself. Besides these, Baghdad is usually marred by funeral processions that occur from time to time. Statisticians may not agree on the numbers of people who have lost their lives but this has reached stagnating proportions within this country.
Given the latter occurrences, the social norms that are supposed to hold any society today have rapidly deteriorated in Baghdad. In fact, most residents including women and children are always on the lookout for the sound of gunshots or suicide bombs. This is because if they do not watch out, then they could be caught off guard or they could die.

Such arrangements are not a common thing in other parts of the world. This is because the latter societies are governed by steady governments and they have set legal systems in place to ensure law and order prevails. In such areas, acts of murder, kidnappings and the like are considered as abnorms and these societies have clearly differentiated them. However, Baghdad residents have now grown accustomed to this state of instability. To them what would be considered normal i.e. peace, is a farfetched idea and the abnorms in this areas have now become day to day occurrences. (Allen, 14)

It can be argued the occurrences of wrongs do not mean that the members of the society itself lack a sense of moral judgment or that their norms have been replaced by abnorms. This argument may be true in other parts of the world where social, political and cultural ideologies are not in conflict with one another.

In Iraq, certain groups have convinced themselves that they can use these abnorms to pursue an ethical agenda. Such is the case with many religious factions and terrorist organizations. These groups believe that they have the right to take over Baghdad. Consequently, they feel that their actions (no matter how wrong) are justified and they can therefore use unlawful means to pursue these. This is actually the reason why some terror groupings are willing to take their own lives just so that they can bomb others and pursue their agenda. The fight for the city of Baghdad will continue to be a battle for supremacy until a sound and stable government has been formed. Before this Capital can achieve this, norms and abnorms will have to be redefined because they have now been disfigured.

Conclusion
Baghdad has undergone numerous problems over the past few years. At first, they endured a decade of dictatorial rule, they were heavily sanctioned by foreign powers and they also engaged in the Iraq Iran war and the Gulf war. All these situations have made the situation quite wanting in Baghdad. It can be said that this City is in a state of anomie and its people experience placelessness. Baghdad symbolizes forces of globalization in their daily life because of the ideologies that drive this US led invasion in that country. The City epitomizes Asianization of Europeanized worlds by sharing their discontent against the US with other parts of the world. They have the opportunity to embrace knowledge based economies and to reengineer their legal structures. Lastly, their norms and abnorms have been defined because of the occurrences in this City and their justifications for them.

References

Allen, M. (2007): Arabs; Continuum Books
Dyer, G. (2008): After Iraq: Anarchy and Renewal in the Middle East; Thomas Dunne Books
Fisk, R. (2007): The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East; Knopf Publishers
Malone, D. (2008): The International Struggle Over Iraq; Oxford University Press, 398 pp.
Vali, N. (2008): The Shia Revival - How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future; Norton
Wise, J. and Baron, S. (2008): Women at War - World War II to Iraqi Freedom; Naval Institute Press
Brzezinski, B. (2008): Second Chance - Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower; Basic Books
Gupta, S. (2007): Theory and Reality of Democracy: A Case Study in Iraq; Continuum Publishing

The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. ResearchPapers247.Com>