Democratization in Iraq

Under Saddam Hussein, conflicts and tensions between these various cultural groups were repressed, and a relatively stable society was maintained (Ware, 2005). Kurdish nationalism was especially targeted in a bloody attack involving the use of biological weapons (Ware, 2005). Additionally, as Sodaro (2004) has commented, Saddam Hussein ensured that the minority religious sect would dominate politics in Iraq and all other important sectors of society. With the demise of Hussein's regime, many of the heretofore tensions simmering in Iraq have erupted.

Sodaro (2004), writing of the myriad factors impacting upon the process of democratization now underway in post-Saddam Iraq, argues that the most critical variable with the potential to disrupt or even inhibit this process is related to cultural diversity. Iraq, an artificially created country constructed out of elements of the Ottoman Empire, has long been plagued by internecine civil conflicts, violent clashes among disparate int

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re is the fact that Saddam loyalists and terrorist groups have continued to resist the changes taking place in Iraq and particularly the American presence in the country. Sodaro (2004, p. 98) summarizes the situation in this manner: It was still uncertain whether the groups that composed Iraq's long-oppressed population actually shared a common national identity as Iraqis, let alone a commitment to abide by the rules of electoral democracy. The nation building task now underway in Iraq is certainly being spurred by American determination and the need perceived by members of the coalition to reduce the longstanding animosities between Kurds and Arabs, Shi'ites and Sunnis that render Iraq a deeply divided culture without a binding national identity. The Kurds represent a major cultural minority which celebrated Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003, but who have not subsequently exhibited the necessary willingness to cooperate fully with the Arab majority in the post-Saddam nation building effort underway in Iraq (Bose, 2003). Animosity between Kurds and Arabs and between both Kurds and Sunnis and the once dominant Shi'ites is of enormous significance in shaping the democratization process in Iraq (Hanson, 2005). While Iraqi
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Approximate Word count = 1216
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)