al-Mashru al-Amriki fi Ihtilal al-Iraq wa Atharuhu fi Taghyir Kharitat al-Mintaqa
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- A paper presented at a conference at Assiut University
al-Mashru al-Amriki fi Ihtilal al-Iraq wa Atharuhu fi Taghyir Kharitat al-Mintaqa (The American Project in the Occupation of Iraq and its Impact on Changing the Map of the Region) is a contemporary political study by Abd al-Qadir al-Muhammadi that analyzes the strategic, ideological, and geopolitical dimensions of the 2003 United States-led invasion of Iraq and its repercussions across the Middle East .
Background and Purpose
The work was written in the aftermath of the collapse of the Ba'athist government in Iraq and the subsequent widespread looting and infrastructural devastation . The author argues that the US decision to invade was not a circumstantial reaction to specific Iraqi conduct, but rather a long-term strategic initiative aimed at dominating the region, securing energy resources, and reshaping political boundaries to serve American and Israeli interests .
Structure and Contents
The book is organized into an introduction, four main chapters, and a concluding section outlining findings and recommendations :
- Introduction: Discusses the rapid fall of the regime, the destabilization of Iraqi society, and the country's multi-ethnic and multi-confessional makeup—comprising Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Sunnis, and Shiites—which positions Iraq at the geographical center of neighboring states such as Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia .
- Chapter One ("Why Did America Come to Iraq?"): Explores the motivations behind the campaign, highlighting ideological links between Evangelical Christian Zionists and Israel, the influence of neoconservative figures in the US administration, and historical US economic strategies to secure Gulf oil reserves spanning from the 1970s and the Carter Doctrine to the establishment of the Central Command .
- Chapter Two ("The American Project in the Region"): Examines the "Greater Middle East" initiative presented to the G8 summit at Sea Island, Georgia, utilizing United Nations Arab Human Development Reports to justify external reform, free-market policies, and political re-engineering .
- Chapter Three ("Strategic Goals of the Project: Changing the Map of the Region"): Compares contemporary US regional policy with past British colonial frameworks such as the 1955 Baghdad Pact . It argues that the invasion sought to establish a "new Sykes–Picot" by dividing the region into fragmented sectarian and ethnic enclaves—including Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite statelets—thereby securing Israeli regional dominance and weakening Islamic unity .
- Chapter Four ("The Arab Stance on the Project"): Analyzes Arab and regional reactions to American demands for political reform, the erosion of state sovereignty, and the circumvention of international institutions such as the United Nations Security Council .
Key Themes and Conclusions
The author concludes that the occupation of Iraq aimed to marginalize international bodies and regional organizations, including the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, while asserting unilateral American hegemony . The book contends that after failing to foster civil fragmentation through sectarian conflict, occupying policies sought to reshape governance structures to maintain regional leverage, and urges the Muslim world to counter partition plans and assert intellectual and political revival .
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