ABSTRACT
T he state of iraq is a relatively new, twentieth-century creation, brought into being by politicians and statesmen, but the area included within its borders is home to several of humankind’s oldest and most creative civilizations. All have shaped Iraq’s current identity. In the past, as today, diversity—of terrain, of resources, and, above all, of people—has been the chief characteristic of the territory and inhabitants that constitute contemporary Iraq. This diversity has been both a strength and a challenge. Harnessing Iraq’s rich resources, whether its fertile river valleys or the black gold under its surface, and absorbing the medley of peoples living in these valleys has been the major preoccupation of Iraq’s leaders, past and present. This is as true in the twenty-first century as in the fourth millennium BCE.
