ABSTRACT
At the beginning of 1960 Abdul Karim Kassem began to experiment with permitting the re-establishment of parties in Iraq, but the results were extremely disappointing. The National Democratic Party was originally selected by Kassem as the political basis of his régime, but soon after it was licensed internal tensions in the party increased, and it split into two parts. One of these, the National Progressive Party became the only political organization which supported Kassem for a while, after he suppressed the Communists, Nasserists, Baath and Moslem conservatives. The attitude of the National Democratic Party differed only in small details from that of the National Progressive Party. The greatest failure in the field of economic policy occurred in land reform. Great Britain, seeing a substantial part of her strategic reserves tied down in Kuwait while serious conflicts were developing in Europe, showed a maximum of good will in order to ease the tension.
