AboutPierre-Alexandre De Bavay M.A. Expertise I can answer any question that deals with geopolitics, political stability and the role of big powers in the Middle East. My strongest background deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but I have a good knowledge of the region going from the Caucasus to Egypt, the Arabic Peninsula and Central Asia. Even if your question does not directly deal with this, I will try to answer it anyway.
Experience I worked for the Center for American Studies in Brussels and for the European Institute for International Relations as political analyst.
Organizations CAS, EIIR
Education/Credentials BA Political Science
MA International Relations
MA American Studies
My question is regarding Iraq's relation to Israel, in particular to the various peace initiatives involving Israel. As I understand things, Iraq has a tentative sort of democracy, currently (and for as long as the U.S. maintains a significant military presence in Iraq, I suppose). Has there been any talk of or leaning towards Iraq participating in any of the peace plans which have been proposed regarding Israel and various Arab neighbors of Israel (Syria, Lebanon, the "Palestinians", etc.)? If so, how likely is it that Iraq would actually agree to any sort of peace or treaty with Israel? And, if so, how soon before such an agreement might take place?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Douglas J. Bender
(Elkhart, IN)
Answer Hi Douglas,
Good question. As you underline, Iraq is merely at the very beginning of a supposed democratic transition. Yet, we have to wait for the US troops to leave and examine whether such a process will go on without major difficulties such as conflict between the various communities. As regards relations with Israel, things are not very clear at the moment. The US government did surely pressure Iraq not to get involved too much in foreign politics at the moment. This is mainly due to the fact that Iraq truly lacks a coherent policy towards other countries. However, there have been significant improvements in that domain since 2003. The Iraqi government dared to talk with Israel about the oil issue but there has been no agreement. I also remember the former Iraqi PM Allawi to have refused to get involved in a dialogue with Israel in 2004. It would therefore be a mistake to think that the Iraqi government relations with Israel are only influenced by the US. It only seems that such relations are not a priority for the moment.
