Iraq is a constitutional monarchy. When the negotiations were taking place in 1921 for the accession of King Faisal he insisted that, in view of Arab conceptions of monarchy and his own personal position, the “monarchy” in the new state must be made the legal property of himself and his direct heirs. He himself had great powers although of necessity he had to do lip-service to the democratic principle which was nominally adopted in 1920–21 to bring the realities of the local situation into line with American idealism. He controlled the ruling junta, and was in effect one of the media between British policy and the Arab executive.