| Executive Summary
Romania’s transition from
five decades of communist repression was initiated by an internal revolution
and the Ba’th Party regime in Iraq was ended by external intervention,
but the two countries share some similar legacies and transition challenges:
· In both countries,
regime change ended a long period of repression characterized by a pervasive
internal security apparatus and extensive informant network. Romanian
national security organizations have yet to be purged completely of personnel
associated with the abuses of the former communist regime, just as most
Ba’th personnel in Iraq will have to be excluded from future Iraqi government
positions. The final disposition of Romania’s extensive Securitate’s
files remains an issue even today, and in Iraq the handling of the records
on Iraqi citizens created by numerous internal security organizations has
not been addressed.
· Both countries inherited
a legacy of government corruption, lack of personal freedom and civil liberties,
a controlled media, and general public mistrust of authorities.
· Romania’s communist
dictator Ceausescu had dynastic ambitions, just as Iraq’s Saddam Husayn
sought to perpetuate through his sons the Ba’th Party legacy he had established
in Iraq.
· Both countries enjoy
a relatively high literacy rate, have a largely secular history, but face
internal ethnic tensions – more significant for Iraq’s multiple religious
and ethnic groups than Romania’s Hungarian, German, Roma and other smaller
minorities.
· Both countries have
significant natural resources – extensive oil reserves in Iraq and agricultural
resources in Romania, but with underdeveloped economies and the absence
of a free market system.
· The military forces
of both countries were largely saddled with antiquated Soviet-supplied
military equipment, hindering necessary modernization efforts. The
issue of weapons of mass destruction is critical to Iraq’s transition.
However, Iraq has additional
transition challenges that were not faced by Romania:
· Religion is less
of an issue in Romania than in Iraq. The Romanian Communist Party
strongly discouraged the practice of religion, leaving several generations
unaccustomed to the regular and open practice of religion. While
the predominantly Orthodox Romanians have relatively minor religious disagreements
with the Catholic Hungarian and Protestant German minorities, Iraq’s majority
Shia and minority Sunni factions face considerable internal tensions over
their respective roles in a new Iraq, not to mention Kurdish aspirations
for a separate state. Although Iraq was a secular state in the socialist
Ba’th tradition, religion continued to be practiced and was later used
by Saddam Husayn as a political tool. Additionally, Iraq’s Shia majority
continues to receive considerable external support from Iran.
· While Romania has
some minor unresolved border disputes with Hungary, Moldova and Ukraine,
Iraq has tense relations with Iran and Kuwait over longstanding border
disputes as well as significant water rights issues with Syria and Turkey
concerning the flows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
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