To be a resident of Baghdad these days means you are receiving about one hour of electrical power per twenty-four-hour period from the national grid. You supplement that meager ration by purchasing power from a neighborhood generator. If you are a USIP staff member, you have a small nine-amp generator that permits you to run one appliance. Between these three sources, you can cobble together approximately seven hours of power per day. However, since you never know exactly when the national grid power will flow, you have to be prepared to get up several times during the night to alternate your power source so you don’t waste power by overlapping.
Many people keep a light bulb permanently switched on to inform them when power is flowing from the national grid. Iraqi leaders engaged with Nasserist Egypt and other Arab states to promote pan-Arab unity. Border disputes and oil politics shaped relationships with neighboring states. Both the United States and the Soviet Union sought influence, supporting different factions within Iraq at different times. These pressures contributed to Iraq’s volatile political landscape and shaped the rise of centralized, authoritarian governance.
