BI: What are the chances that Iraq will break apart?

Suponina: I think the situation in Iraq will get much worse than it is now and neither the United States nor Russia can do much about it. There is a real danger of civil war in the country. An additional problem is that Iraq's neighbors, for example, Iran, are interfering for their own interests.

BI: You mention Iran. Today, Iran said it was prepared to talk with the US about Iraq. What do you think is behind this?

Suponina: I mention Iran because of this proposal. I think this is a very narrow proposal where Iran is really trying to achieve progress on its own nuclear problem. Iran is not, with this proposal, interested in the Iraqi people; it has the interests of Tehran at heart.

BI: How influential is Iran in Iraq? Is Iran the country that can save Iraq?

Suponina: Iran has a very big influence in Iraq because of the Shi'ite community, but the Shi'ite community is not united. Iran has influence but I don't think Iran can help the US or Iraq, especially as long as Tehran is trying to pursue its own interests, which are not necessarily the interests of Iraq.

BI: What is Russia's role in all this?

Suponina: Russia can play a role and is playing a role in Iraq, but it's very limited and nothing concrete is coming of it. For example, Russia has proposed an international conference on Iraq. I don't see how an international conference on the Iraq issue can solve anything in this dangerous situation. Russia's proposal is really about its own interests in trying to remind other countries that it is still influential. Russia is very weak now in Iraq.

BI: What are Russia' interests with respect to Iraq?

Suponina: Certainly Russia wants stability in Iraq, though Russia cannot do much to ensure this. Russia has held consultations with different Iraqi parties, which was a positive move, but it's not enough, and the Russian ambassador in Iraq is not as active as for example the US ambassador.

Russia also wants to return economically to Iraq. Before the 2003 war, Iraq was the biggest economic partner in the energy field. But while such a return is possible, it will not be to the extent it was before, when trade between the two countries reached two billion dollars a year and sometimes more.

BI: What then are the consequences, first for the region, and second for Russia, of any break-up of Iraq?

Suponina: It will first be very dangerous for Iraqis and then for Iraq's neighbors. For Russia, this direct danger is not so big; Iraq is far away. Nevertheless, it will mean no return to Iraq for Russian businesses.

Secondly, there is a danger to Russia because of the presence of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in Iraq. In the case of civil war, these organizations could become even more empowered, and that too could influence Russia's interests at home and elsewhere.

Russia, unlike the US however, does not consider all resistance in Iraq as terrorist. From the beginning, Russia distinguished between organizations like al-Qaeda in Iraq and others, including some ex-members of the former Baath party.

BI: Is Russia concerned that something similar to Iraq will now happen in Iran?

Suponina: Yes. Russia is against any international sanctions on Iran, because of the example of Iraq. Officially, Russia does not consider that there will be war in Iran. But the problem is, as Iraq proved, that internationals sanctions don't always work, so Moscow considers sanctions as not very useful in the case of Iran.

Also, the situation in Iraq is very dangerous, and the possibility of civil war and a break-up of Iraq into three parts is very real. Russia is certain that any sanctions against Iran will simply lead us to the same problem.- Published 23/3/2006 © bitterlemons-international.org


Yelena Suponina is foreign editor of the Russian daily, Vremya Novostei

The possible fragmentation of Iraq is a most unwelcome prospect from the Israeli point of view. Some observers, locked in perceptions of an era long passed, might still think otherwise. In the 1960s and 1970s, when Israel was deeply involved in conflict with the states of the Arab core of the Middle East, Egypt, Syria and Jordan, it was extremely apprehensive with respect to possible Iraqi military assistance to its Arab enemies in time of war. Israel consequently developed a particularly friendly relationship with the non-Arab periphery of the region--Iran of the Shah--and actively pursued a covert relationship with the Kurds in Iraq in support of their secessionist struggle against the central government in Baghdad. Israel's interests have, however, radically changed since then, as have the concepts of core and periphery in the Middle East.

Israel has made its peace with the key players of the Arab core, Egypt and Jordan. It maintains an uneasy modus vivendi with Syria and low intensity conflict with the Palestinians. The balance of power between Israel and its Arab neighbors has shifted markedly in Israel's favor. Generally in the last two decades or so the Arabs have weakened considerably, as former Arab regional powers have lost their hegemonic status. Egypt no longer wields the regional clout it once enjoyed. Syria under President Bashar Assad is but a shadow of its former self under his father, Hafez. It has been forced out of Lebanon and is totally isolated by the United States and its local allies. Iraq has been crushed by the American invasion and the Saudis, even with oil prices going through the roof, are not as wealthy as they once were. Moreover, they suffer the insecurity of domestic terrorism, and have had a somewhat less intimate relationship with the United States ever since 9/11.

In the Arab east, where the Syrian and the Iraqi Baath regimes once competed for supremacy, there is now an Arab leadership void; the power vacuum is being filled by an expanding Iran, the likes of which the region has never witnessed in the modern era. Determined to obtain a nuclear capability, Iran is presently also buoyed by an unprecedented sense of Shi'ite ascendancy. Iraq has become the first Shi'ite dominated Arab state, the Shi'ites are on the rise in Lebanon, and Jordan's King Abdullah was therefore pretty much on the mark in his anxious reference in late 2004 to the emergent "Shi'ite crescent" of influence.

In these circumstances, the former Sunni Arab core is becoming a political periphery relative to the new core, which has moved eastwards to Iran. As the United States sinks deeper into the Iraqi morass, so Iran treats the West with ever increasing defiance and an obvious sense of impunity and self-assurance. Saddam's Iraq had once been the Arab bulwark in the east, but its removal has opened the floodgates for Iranian regional ascendance, for which nothing positive can be said from an Israeli standpoint.

If the weakening of Iraq and just the potential for its disintegration have brought the region thus far, the actual dismemberment of Iraq into three statelets--one Kurdish in the north, one Sunni in the center, and one Shi'ite in the south--could have disastrous consequences for the entire neighborhood, especially for Israel and its regional allies, Turkey and Jordan.

As is well known, the Turks are wary of the potentially destabilizing capacity of such a Kurdish state. A weak Sunni Iraqi state, sandwiched between the Kurds and the Shi'ites and denied Iraq's oil wealth, could become an insufferable burden on the neighbors, especially Jordan to whom many may emigrate. This would bring even greater pressure to bear on Jordan's economy and infrastructure, already straining under the burden of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have taken refuge in the kingdom. The Shi'ite statelet in the south would be far more dependent on Iran than a more powerful united (albeit federative and Shi'ite dominated) Arab-Kurdish Iraqi state, and thus a far more likely candidate to serve as a subservient and subversive cat's paw of the ayatollahs in Tehran.

The disintegration of Iraq along sectarian lines would be the first of its kind in the Arab state system since its creation in the 1920s. Others could follow, like Lebanon and Syria, leading to sectarian shifts of power to the Shi'ites in Lebanon and, in Syria, to fundamentalist Sunnis bent on unseating the Alawis, who dispossessed them a generation ago. The Iranians and Hizballah, Hamas and their Syrian counterparts in the Muslim Brotherhood would all stand to benefit from the new disorder, in which Israel, Jordan and Turkey would be equally hard-pressed to cope with the negative fallout of Iraq's demise.

Considering the alternatives, none appears more appealing than the restoration of the integrity of an independent, unoccupied, Arab-Kurdish Iraqi state, which would probably be more inclined to restrain Iranian influence than both the occupied and the fragmented versions.- Published 23/3/2006 © bitterlemons-international.org

Asher Susser is a senior fellow and former Director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is presently a visiting professor at the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

On the third anniversary of the liberation of Iraq, while Iraqis are increasingly enmeshed in a sectarian-driven civil war, Americans ask: What have we accomplished in Iraq? Are we or the Iraqis safer, happier, more secure, at peace with the neighbors and themselves? Or have we broken the bonds that kept Iraq together, and now threaten to destabilize the region that we hoped Iraq would lead into "a new world order"? (The term may have been coined by George H.W. Bush, forty-first president of the United States, but it surely fits son George W., the forty-third president.)

How you measure success or failure in Iraq depends on what you believe the goals of the Bush administration were in 2003. If the goal was to remove Saddam Hussein and the Baathist regime that had ruled the republic of fear for more than three decades, then Iraq is a success, at least thus far. If you believe the war was about eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and alleged terrorist links, then Iraq is a success. If you believe that the war was about the creation of a democratic Iraq in which people are free to elect their government, develop transparent political institutions, adopt a constitution and express opinions openly, then Iraq is part success, part failure. But if you believe the war was about creating an effective government that represents the interests of all the people of Iraq, the rule of law, and protection of civil liberties, minority and human rights, then Iraq is a failure, at least thus far.

Failure can come in several forms: Iraq breaks apart, hangs together as a weak confederation of mini-states, or is once again brought under the control of a strong leader, party, or militia. Whatever the outcome, Iraqis will accuse the US of siding with one side or the other and interfering in their sovereign affairs. The neighbors already accuse Washington of failing to understand the nature of politics in Iraq and deliberately allowing Shi'ite extremist factions to dominate the government in order to keep Iraq--and themselves--in disarray.

American policy in this region remains based on maintaining Iraq's territorial unity and political integrity, preserving the regional status quo and access to reliable energy sources, and denying any neighbor's hegemonic, nuclear ambitions. Failure would not only place these goals at risk, it would have far-reaching consequences for American power projection in the Greater Middle East. Failure would:

Undermine the stability of friendly regimes that depend on American commitments to maintain a balance of power in the region. Jordan and Saudi Arabia would be at greater risk, and Turkey might feel compelled to intervene in a now independent Kurdish state.

Raise questions about American credibility and willingness to commit to friendly regimes' long-term security. In a major crisis, the Gulf Arabs will support the US, but they will also question the wisdom of relying solely on the US for their protection. Without a Sunni-led Baghdad or a determined American backer, other options--China, Pakistan or India perhaps--may look more attractive.

Give Iran opportunity to expand its "benign hegemony" further over the region with impunity. This could lead to a larger Iranian political, military and intelligence engagement in Iraq and the ability to project power into Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf in defense of embattled Shi'ite communities.

Weaken US efforts to broker an end to Israeli-Palestinian confrontations, counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction, or maintain cooperation in the war on terrorism, and send jitters through the oil market.

Boost al-Qaeda's appeal to recruits and ability to intimidate the weak, especially if Iraq becomes a safe haven and launching pad for region-wide operations.

If Iraq somehow survives intact, everyone will take credit. If it fails, the blame will be placed squarely on the US doorstep. The costs of failure will be measured in the increased risk of wider Sunni-Shi'ite conflict, the undermining of regimes long friendly to the US, and the prospect of jihadists controlling whatever Sunni rump state emerges in the former Iraq. More worrisome, failure accompanied by American withdrawal will reaffirm for many that domestic politics in an election year can reshape international commitments and security strategies regardless of international conditions.

The consequences for Iraq will be far worse. Failure accompanied by American military disengagement will signal the beginning of all-out civil war. To date, religious extremists, nationalists, disgruntled Baathists and military officers and the remnants of Saddam's terror squads have scrimmaged while the Kurds watch. Failure and withdrawal will most likely mean war in which Arab fights Arab for territorial control of a new Iraq under one leader, faction, clan, sect, or party. Nothing will be sacred or safe, not even an independent or autonomous Kurdistani regional authority.- Published 23/3/2006 © bitterlemons-international.org

Judith Yaphe is distinguished research fellow for the Middle East at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at National Defense University in Washington. The opinions expressed here are hers and do not reflect the views of the university, the US government or any government agency. The events described in this piece are the product of her imagination.