ABSTRACT
This chapter runs through the history of the Ba’ath Party in Iraq and how it evolved into a “republic of fear” by resorting to Sunni-Arab-tribal ethnosectarianism to build a tiny yet loyal social base. This chapter is a case study of how Saddam’s regime pursued a genocidal strategy of survival in the context of the US-led regime of multibalancing in the region. In the process of the rise and fall of Saddam, the chapter details the shifting, transactional, and short-term policies of the United States.
