Oil and the Outcome of the Iran-Iraq War Excerpts from a report by Thomas McNaugher and William Quandt of the Brookings Institution, published on May 14, 1984 by Cambridge Energy Research Associates. These excerpts appeared in Arab Oil and Gas (Paris), June 1, 1984. (Author not identified) • 5 min read
Arms Merchants in the Gulf War Both sides in the Gulf war have had to import billions of dollars worth of weapons, ordnance and military services in order to maintain and expand their battle forces. As the tables show, the number of military suppliers to both belligerents has expanded greatly in the period since the war began. Be Joe Stork • 3 min read
Treatment of Prisoners of War in the Iran-Iraq Conflict Excerpts from International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) press release, May 11, 1983: Geneva — Since the outbreak of the conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq the highest authorities of both those states have several times confirmed their intention to honor the (Author not identified) • 2 min read
Commanding the Center Although President Jimmy Carter pledged in January 1980 to “use any means necessary, including military force” to ensure “the free movement of Middle Eastern oil” and created the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) for intervention in the Third World, the American military presence in the Middle East was s Daniel Volman • 5 min read
West German Ties with Iran and Iraq In July 1984, West German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher visited Tehran, the highest-level Western official to do so in the five years since the Iranian revolution. Genscher reported that his hosts expressed strong interest in refurbishing Iran’s ties with Europe and Japan. Germany’s own tr Konrad Ege • 2 min read
US Ready to Intervene in Gulf War The current phase of the war between Iran and Iraq has prompted a level of US military intervention in the Gulf region that is new and unprecedented in both qualitative and quantitative terms, and holds the risk of a more direct combat role on Iraq’s behalf. Since early 1983, the stalemate in the wa Martha Wenger, Joe Stork • 12 min read
The Gulf War and the Islamic Republic Iran’s war with Iraq has taken a devastating toll. There have been several hundred thousand Iranian casualties, including an estimated 180,000 deaths. Property damage amounts to billions of dollars. The conflict has uprooted at least 1.5 million civilians from the war zones and diverted the society’ Eric Hooglund • 19 min read
Not Quite Armageddon Ostensibly, the war between Iraq and Iran is about boundaries, about freeing the Shatt al-‘Arab from Persian occupation, about restoring the two Tumb islands and Abu Musa in the Gulf to the Arab nation, and -- admittedly always a more distant prospect -- liberating Khuzistan (“Arabistan”) from the a Marion Farouk-Sluglett, Peter Sluglett, Joe Stork • 29 min read
Checkmate in the Gulf War The war between Iraq and Iran has let loose a flood of commentary and upset many predictions since it began nearly four years ago. Those who expected another oil crisis were relieved to find an oil glut. Those who anticipated a quick Iraqi victory are now facing the possibility of new Iranian offens Ghassan Salameh • 20 min read
Chronicle of the Gulf War The war between Iran and Iraq is approaching its fourth anniversary. In its duration, large numbers of casualties and physical damage, this war already ranks as one of the most serious armed conflicts since World War II. Several Iranian cities and numerous towns have been destroyed, and the city of (Author not identified) • 33 min read
MER Article Hanna K. and Farah H. Michel Khleifi, The Fertile Memory (Marisa Films, 1980). Costa-Gavras, Hanna K. (Universal Studios, 1983). I didn’t make this film to judge, but to transmit the diversity of attitudes. And also, because I can’t forget that as children my brothers and I had to steal fruits and vegetables in order t Miriam Rosen • 9 min read
MER Article Looking Across the Mediterranean "Femmes de la Mediterranée," Peuples Mediterraneens/Mediterranean Peoples 22-23 (January-June 1983). Rosemary Sayigh • 16 min read
