NBN Author Interview: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Saudi Struggle for Iraq
Katherine
Harvey, A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Saudi Struggle for Iraq, Oxford
University Press 2022
By James M.
Dorsey
Iraq has in
the last year taken a lead in sponsoring talks between Middle Eastern
arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran in an effort to prevent tension in the region
spinning out of control. The Iraqi role is remarkable given that Saudi Arabia
for more than a decade after the 2003-led US invasion of Iraq and the toppling
of Saddam Hussein wanted nothing to do with the country’s post-Saddam
leadership. Saudi perceptions of Iraq as an Iranian pawn persuaded it even to
refuse reopening a diplomatic mission in Baghdad until 2019.
In Self-fulfilling
Prophet: The Saudi Struggle for Iraq (Oxford University Press
2022), Katherine Harvey paints a fascinating picture of what happens when
policy is crafted based on perception rather than fact. Harvey tells the story
of a post-invasion Iraq that was systematically rebuffed by Saudi Arabia in its
efforts to reintegrate into the predominantly Sunni Arab world. Iraq had been
ostracized following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait and expulsion from the Gulf
state in 1991 by a US-coalition.
Saudi King
Abdullah, convinced that Iran had successfully infiltrated Iraq and that Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was an Iranian stooge, blocked Iraq’s reaching
out to the kingdom and eventually drove into the hands of Iran. In doing so,
Saudi Arabia was standing up for its perceived interests that diverged from those
of the United States. The US wanted the Saudis to engage with the Shiite Muslim
majority that came to power in Iraq as a result of the US invasion.
As a result,
Harvey’s well-documented book contributes to understanding the limits of US
power in the Middle East and the significant perceptual gaps that Middle
Eastern states need to bridge to ensure that a regional détente is sustainable.
This
podcast was first published on New Books Network
To listen
to the audio version click here
To watch the
video version click here
Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning
journalist and scholar and a Senior Fellow at the National University of
Singapore’s Middle East Institute.
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