In a written reply to the document, Saddam wrote: "1) [I] Agree with the opinion of the Party Secretariat; 2) To be discussed in the [Regional] Command meeting". The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (spelled "Ba'th" or "Baath", "resurrection" or "renaissance"; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ‎ Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-‘Arabī al-Ishtirākī), also referred to as the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath movement, is a Ba'athist political party which was headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq until 2003. In contrast to Marx, Aflaq also believed in nationalism and believed that in the Arab world all classes and not just the working class were working against "capitalist domination of the foreign powers". [20], According to Aflaq, the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) against the Ottoman Empire failed to unify the Arab world because it was led by a reactionary class. A political and economic dictionary of the Middle East. It's the domination of a minority, and I'm not talking just of the Alawites, who control the society's nervous system. 2. One memo from the party Secretariat sent directly to Saddam read that "the party suffers from the existence of members who are not originally Arabs as this might constitute a danger to the party in the future". According to Aflaq, liberty could not just come from nowhere as it needed an enlightened progressive group to create a truly free society.[20]. Since 2009, the movement has gained significant strength in Abu Ghurayb and parts of the Falluja to Ramadi corridor. Saddamism (Saddamiya) is a political ideology based on the politics related to and pursued by Saddam Hussein. Once successfully transformed, the created progressive revolutionary countries would then one by one unite until the Arab world had evolved into a single Arab nation. The IFTU contends that the GFTU remains Ba'athist, while the GFTU claims it has cleansed itself of any regime residue. Transaction Books. In the decade and a half after the Ba'ath party came to power, up to 200,000 Feyli Kurds were expelled from Iraq. 27. The Arab Baʽath Movement (Arabic: حركة البعث العربي‎ Ḥarakat al-Baʽth al-‘Arabī), also literally translated as Arab Resurrection Movement or Arab Renaissance Movement, was the Baathist political movement and predecessor of the Arab Socialist Baʽath Party. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (meaning "resurrection"; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ‎ Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-‘Arabī al-Ishtirākī), also referred to as the pro-Syrian Ba'ath movement, is a neo-Ba'athist political party with branches across the Arab world. Ba'athism is based on principles of Arab nationalism, pan-Arabism, and Arab socialism, as well as social progress. [62] He had been associated with the League of Nationalist Action, a political party strongly influenced by fascism and Nazism with its paramilitary "Ironshirts" and that existed in Syria from 1932 to 1939. [40] Munif al-Razzaz, the former Secretary General of the National Command of the unitary Baath Party, agreed with the theory and stated that from 1961 onwards there existed two Baath parties – "the military Baath Party and the Baath Party, and real power lay with the former". [1] While Aflaq, Bitar and Arsuzi were never members of the same organization and formed different parties, with Aflaq and Bitar on one hand and Arsuzi on the other hand making different ideological contributions, they are considered the founders of Baathism. He also expressed admiration for other communist leaders such as Fidel Castro, Hồ Chí Minh and Josip Broz Tito due to their spirit of asserting national independence rather than their communism. This exploration of Ba’athist influence on the Islamic State movement reinforces Kazimi’s and Gerges’ insights, and demonstrates that the sentiment described by Reuter in his influential article on Haji Bakr–that ISIS is a non-religious power accumulator with little connection to the jihadist trend–is categorically false. [1], Arsuzi formed the Arab Baath Party in 1940 and his views influenced Aflaq, who alongside junior partner Salah al-Din al-Bitar founded the Arab Ihya Movement in 1940 that later renamed itself the Arab Baath Movement in 1943. [2] Though Aflaq was influenced by him, Arsuzi initially did not cooperate with Aflaq's movement. A Ba'athist state supports socialist economics to a varying degree and supports public ownership over the commanding heights of the economy, but opposes confiscatory policies with regard to private property. The most notable schism of this certain political creed is between the Iraqi Ba'athist and Syrian Ba'athist parties. Aflaq's movement supported al-Gaylani's government and the Iraqi government's war against the British and organized volunteers to go to Iraq and fight for the Iraqi government. The ideology presented itself as representing the "Arab spirit against materialistic communism" and "Arab history against dead reaction". Even if the revolution succeeded in one "region" (country), that region would be unable to develop because of the resource constraints, small populations and the anti-revolution forces held by other Arab leaders. The contemporary opposition movements in the Arabian Peninsula have their origins in two processes of radicalization in Middle Eastern politics. [14] The centre of Aflaq's Baathist thought was the feature baʽth (literally meaning "renaissance"). Assad's government was a personal government, meaning a government that is based upon and revolves around the leader and the term “Assadism” was coined to explain how Assad's leadership dominates Syrian politics. [60] Arsuzi did not support the Axis powers and refused Italy's advances for party-to-party relations,[61] but he was also influenced by the racial theories of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. [53] Saddamism was officially supported by Saddam's government and promoted by the Iraqi daily newspaper Babil owned by Saddam's son Uday Hussein. John F. Devlin agrees on the matter and states that the "Baath Party, which started with unity as its overwhelming top priority, which was prepared to work within a variety of Middle Eastern political systems, which wanted social justice in society, had pretty much disappeared by the early 1960s. [26], Aflaq saw liberty as one of the defining features of Baathism. Aflaq shared the sentiment by stating: "I no longer recognise my party!". A Ba'athist is a member of a pan-Arab socialist Ba'ath (from the Arabic for "revival") political party active principally in Syria and Iraq. David Seddon. He was inspired by the French Revolution, the German and Italian unification movements and the Japanese economic "miracle". In contrast to the liberal democratic concept of liberty, in Aflaq's vision liberty would be ensured by a Baath party which was not elected by the populace because the party had the common good at heart. While the revolutionary party was numerically a minority, it was an all-powerful institution which had the right to initiate a policy even if the majority of the population were against it. Pp. The name “Baath” means “Renaissance.” The Baath Party of Iraq was founded in 1954 as a regional branch of the pan-Arab Baath Party, which had been founded in 1947. Though a Christian, Aflaq viewed the creation of Islam as proof of "Arab genius" and a testament of Arab culture, values and thought. Baathist leaders of the modern era include the former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. The authorities have tried to portray the wisdom of Assad as "beyond the comprehension of the average citizen". [24] Aflaq saw the German unification as proof of this. [9], Aflaq unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the Syrian parliament in 1943. The two Ba'athist states which have existed (Iraq and Syria) prevented criticism of their ideology through authoritarian means of governance. Lanham, Maryland and Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, Ltd., 2004. A Pedigree of Terror: The Myth of the Ba’athist Influence in the Islamic State Movement The presence of former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime in the Islamic State is well documented in hundreds of news reports and recently published books, and has … [34] During the Shia riots against the Iraqi Baath government in the late-1970s, Aflaq warned Saddam Hussein of making any concessions to the rioters, exclaiming that the Baath Party "is with [religious] faith, but is not a religious party, nor should it be one". Liberty meant little to nothing to the general poverty-stricken populace of Syria and Aflaq saw socialism as the solution to their plight. However, Ba’athists reject both Marxism-Leninism and the social democratic model of Europe. [25], A major obstacle to the success of the revolution is the Arab League. Ba'athists contend that socialism is the only way to develop an Arab society which is free and united. Baathist efforts to effectively dominate Iraqi politics clashed with the rapidly-growing Iraqi Islamic movement, and the Islamist opposition to the Baathists drove the Baathist party to play down secularism and socialism during its last decades in power. Croom Helm, Ltd., 1984. When Aflaq died in 1989, an official announcement by the Iraqi Regional Command stated that Aflaq had converted to Islam before his death, but an unnamed Western diplomat in Iraq told William Harris that Aflaq's family was not aware that he had undergone any religious conversion. 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