ABSTRACT
As the preceding discussion makes clear, the process of state formation in the Middle East took a different path from that of Western Europe. The principal difference lay in the fact that in most Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, the creation of states was inextricably linked with colonial intervention. This difference was particularly crucial as it related to the matter of establishing boundaries and the impact that these newly created boundaries had upon the development of a sense of national identity and on the legitimacy of regimes.
