The Iraqi Institute for Dialogue organizes  A Book Signing Ceremony

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Saudi Struggle for Iraq

By: Katherine Harvey

The Iraqi Institute for Dialogue pavilion at the Baghdad International Book Fair is pleased to hold a book signing ceremony by Katherine Harvey on her brand-new book, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Saudi Struggle for Iraq, on Friday, May 20, 2022, from 5:00 pm- 7:00 pm.

the book talks about the geopolitical rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Many have charted the polarization between a Saudi-led Sunni camp and an Iranian-led Shia one, assuming that a predominantly Shia state like Iraq would automatically ally with Iran. In this compelling account, Katherine Harvey tells a different story: Iraq’s current alignment with Iran was not a foregone conclusion. Rather, Saudi efforts to undermine Iran have paradoxically empowered it. Harvey investigates why the Saudis refused to engage with Iraq’s post-2003 Shia-led government, despite continual outreach by Iraq’s new leaders and considerable pressure from the United States. She finds that certain deeply ingrained assumptions predisposed Saudi leaders to see a Shia-led Iraq as naturally beholden to Iran: the view that Iran is inherently expansionist, and the belief that Arab Shia tend to be loyal to it. This outlook was simplistic, even downright inaccurate; and, in refusing to engage, the Saudis created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

As Harvey demonstrates, members of Iraq’s new government initially sought to establish a positive relationship with Saudi Arabia and to pursue a course independent from Iran. But, isolated and rejected by Saudi King Abdullah, Iraq ultimately had nowhere else to turn.