idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
"The Triangle of Hubris" is a DIMAS research project at the University of Regensburg examining the history of relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, and the United States from 1991 to 2003. The project is funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.
This project examines the history of relations between these three countries from 1991 to 2003. Professor Timothy Nunan, Chair of Transregional Knowledge Cultures, and his Research Associate Dr. Dani Nassif, from the Department of Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies (DIMAS) at the University of Regensburg, are examining this topic based on new sources. The Fritz Thyssen Foundation has funded their project, "Triangle of Hubris: Iran, Iraq, and the United States, 1991–2003, for two years, providing over €190,000 in funding. The project builds on their previous collaboration through the UR Fellows Program and the contacts established with various Iraqi researchers and universities, including the Catholic University in Erbil, the University of Baghdad, and the University of Sulaimani.
Starting Points: The Gulf War of 1990-91
"These were turbulent years, marked by the expulsion of Saddam Hussein from Kuwait by a large international coalition led by the United States during the Gulf War (1990–1991), and by the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003 with its 'coalition of the willing,'" says Timothy Nunan, describing the historical background to the project. Even though Saddam Hussein remained in power during the Gulf War, the Iraq War of 2003 led to his removal and beginning of efforts to democratize Iraq through direct military intervention.
How Did the US and Iran View Saddam Hussein?
Following the overthrow of the Ba’thist regime in 2003, the United States established a transitional government for Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The CPA aimed to democratize Iraq and establish a pro-American state. However: “The American vision for Iraq quickly failed as sectarian violence claimed too many Iraqi lives. The Islamic Republic of Iran also soon gained unprecedented influence over Iraqi politics, primarily through its support of Shiite militias," Nassif explains.
This research project examines how Washington and Tehran perceived Saddam Hussein and the possibility of regime change in Iraq during the 1990s. In the 1980s, Iran fought a brutal war with Iraq and actively sought to topple Saddam’s regime, while the United States supported him despite his use of chemical weapons and widespread human rights abuses. However, after the Gulf War, both countries recalibrated their approach. The U.S. imposed sanctions and enforced no-fly zones but stopped short of pursuing regime change. Iran, meanwhile, restored diplomatic ties with Iraq and reduced its backing of Iraqi opposition groups.
Nunan and Nassif aim to understand how these shifts in policy occurred and how Saddam navigated the pressures from both adversaries—particularly by positioning himself as a defender of Sunni Arab interests.
Changing Conditions
The researchers also want to examine how external developments, such as the Oslo Accords (1993), the election of Iranian reformists (1997), and al-Qaeda’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (2001), influenced relations between the three countries. “Together, these questions shed light on the changing strategic considerations of Washington, Tehran, and Baghdad and provide a deeper understanding of how regional and global developments reshaped their relations in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq War,” Nunan reports.
These questions are expected to be answered by new historical sources that have only recently become available or have rarely been linked together. "Since the late 2000s, researchers have had access to the files of the Iraqi Baath Party," says Nassif. "The recently declassified Iraqi state files from 1968 to 2003 provide a more detailed look than ever before into the world behind Saddam's desk, including his struggles with Washington and Tehran."
New US Sources
In addition, researchers are drawing on new U.S. sources, such as files from Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) chief L. Paul Bremer III and the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. These sources will be linked to the memoirs and diaries of leading Iraqi and Iranian officials. Taken together, these sources allow us to describe this recent history and make a significant contribution to the historiography of Baathist Iraq, the Iraq War, and the international order after the Cold War," emphasize Nunan and Nassif.
The project builds on Timothy Nunan's work on Shiite Islamism and Iranian foreign policy, as well as his new research focus on international history after the Cold War. Dani Nassif, a native Arabic speaker from Lebanon, contributes his expertise in Arabic humanities and his connections to Iraqi universities to the research project through his work on the DAAD-funded project, "Digital Teaching and Learning in History" [https://dllg.app.uni-regensburg.de/].
Professor Dr. Timothy Nunan, Dr. Dani Nassif, Department of Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies (DIMAS), University of Regensburg, dimas.office@ur.de
https://www.uni-regensburg.de/en/university/dimas Learn more about DIMAS
https://www.uni-regensburg.de/en/university/dimas More about Professor Timothy Nunan
https://www.uni-regensburg.de/en/university/dimas/team/dr-dani-nassif More about Dr. Dani Nassif
https://www.fritz-thyssen-stiftung.de/en/ About the Fritz Thyssen Foundation
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars, Students
History / archaeology, Politics, Social studies
transregional, national
Cooperation agreements, Research projects
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
