Download or read book Basra, the Failed Gulf State written by Reidar Visser and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2005 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is Iraq "artificial," on the verge of disintegrating? All too often, the answers to this question ignore Iraq's own history. In fact, the literature on indigenous attempts at dismembering Iraq is surprisingly patchy, especially with regard to the oil-rich south. This book presents, for the first time, an actual case of southern Iraqi separatism: a daring bid to turn Basra into a pro-British mercantile mini-state. The study uncovers the dynamics and limits of southern separatism, casts new light on the victory of Iraqi nationalism in the south and discusses the challenges of post-2003 regionalism in a federal Iraq.