This year should have been marked as the centenary of Iraq's emancipation from nearly five centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule, an event which supposedly paved the way for ancient Mesopotamia to re-emerge as a 20th-century nation-state. Instead, the new nation soon found itself in a state of deadlock, falling under British colonial rule which then installed a foreigner as monarch and the figurehead for a British-orchestrated parliament and a government of cronies, collaborators and quislings. The mischievous selection symbolised Britain's colonial role not only in inventing the new Iraqi political system but also in stage-managing it for decades to come. The British failure to help build a viable modern state in Iraq also promised a failed state some one hundred years later. The anniversary in November was an occasion to take stock of still-unresolved state and nation-building in Iraq, a country which remains afflicted by lingering conflicts and divided along sectarian and ethnic lines. The next few decades are unlikely to see more changes in the state of these conflicts than have been seen over the past one hundred years. A century is a reasonable time over which to review the impact of such legacies in Iraq because it allows consideration of the issue in the context of different phases of post-colonial policy and performance. It is largely as a result of such legacies that a country whose civilisation used to lead the world now lies in ruins. The Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, installed by the British, failed to forge the country into a functional, unified or stable state or transform the lives of its population and develop its social, political, economic and cultural potential despite Iraq having a wealth of oil and fertile land. As a result, Iraq degenerated into a stagnant nation that fell far behind many of the developing countries in Asia and Africa that had started their journey of independence and modernisation simultaneously or even decades later. One hundred years ago, Iraq seemed to be the future not only for its people but also for the rest of the Arab world that was yearning for its re-awakening and joining the path towards enlightenment. All this went wrong such that the Iraqi capital Baghdad has been found to be the worst place in the world to live today in a world cities quality of life index. Broadly speaking, Iraq's decline is rooted in leaders who have long failed to build a stable modern state with well-founded institutions by mobilising people and resources. Since its inception in 1921, the Iraqi state has been ruled by greedy, corrupt, impotent and ignorant elites whose legitimacy has always lain in doubt. The country's post-independence civilian governments were disrupted by uprisings and repeated coups, and the monarchy was finally overthrown on 14 July 1958 in a coup executed by army officers. The coups and counter coups that afflicted the country were the culmination of undemocratic rule by autocrats who paid only lip service to the wishes of the Iraqi people in terms of democracy and good governance. Paradoxically, the coups brought together a club of military leaders that has maintained an iron grip on power in a fractured state for decades. The repeated power grabs not only created political and national gridlock, but also contributed to the rise of dictatorships like that of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. In the chaos of the post-1968 coup in Iraq, it was the fascist-oriented Baath Party that gained dominance and provided the opportunity for a new leader, Saddam, to rise. It was the absolute power that he then exercised that gave his regime the roots to flourish and turn into a tyranny of a sort unseen before in modern Iraq. Distrustful of the regional order, ignorant of postwar geopolitics, and contemptuous of international diplomacy, Saddam was ready to do all it took to establish Iraq as a regional superpower, a grandiose notion also entertained by some of his predecessors. Saddam's war against Iran (1980-1988) and invasion of neighbouring Kuwait in 1990 were catastrophic events, and they cost Iraq dearly in terms of human casualties and material destruction. Most importantly, Saddam's disastrous military adventures also endangered Iraq's very existence as an independent state when the country finally fell under the yoke of US occupation in 2003. Hopes soared 15 years ago that the overthrow of the Saddam regime in the US-led invasion would also be transformative. However, the fruits of regime change in Iraq swiftly rotted into renewed autocracy and war, engendering the misery and chaos that today surrounds millions of Iraqis. History will remember that the US-led invasion unleashed some of the most devastating elements that have been behind many of the greatest tragedies of our time. Since then, Iraq has also miserably failed to create democracy, happiness or wealth for its nearly 40 million people. Iraq has been going through a tumultuous process of change since 2003 that has seen many older social, political and even physical boundaries crossed, broken or re-created. One of the major consequences of the US-led invasion was the country falling into the grip of sectarianism and communal strife that doomed it to a state of violence and fragmentation. Corruption continues to be a major problem under the post-Saddam regime. Since 2003, the international NGO Transparency International has listed Iraq as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, hampering democracy, development, and the ability to bring the country out of its current mess. How could a country whose ancient city-states in Sumer and Mesopotamia gave the world its first civilisations and states fail so abysmally? The catalogue of misfortunes that Iraq has experienced over the last one hundred years has few limits. Yet, one thing remains clear: Iraq's failure to advance is not due to bad luck. It is due to bad leadership. If there is one thing that lies behind Iraq's abysmal failure, it is that bad and incompetent leadership has spurred instability, societal fractures, economic stagnation and cultural regression during successive regimes. Throughout Iraq's modern history, its political leaders have sought only to consolidate their power and have thought little of the consequences for good governance and modernisation. They have failed to link their own position in office with their country's national interests. Today, Iraq's ruling elites show little or no vision or political leadership, and the country's continuing failure is largely due to their lack of integrity, decency, prudence and intelligence. As a result, Iraq seems to have lost its way and has become out of sync with the rest of the world. The constant interruptions to modernisation and development that have taken place in Iraq are the main manifestations of this leadership failure. Unquestionably, it will take unusual leaders to end one hundred years of decline. The century of failure in Iraq can only end by getting rid of the country's corrupt, power-greedy and incompetent politicians and finding new leaders who will serve their country's interests more than they serve their own.
