Clarifying Iraqi Invasion of Iran: On the Causal Role of the Struggle for Recognition

Saddam Hussein’s efforts to establish Iraq as the regional hegemon and the leader of the Arab World is vastly proposed, in most of the literature, as one of the main causes of the Iran-Iraq War. This proposition, however, has been expressed very vaguely in previous studies. In other words, no direct logical connection is specified between Iraq’s intention to be the regional hegemon or the leader of the Arab World and its invasion of Iran. Why did Iraq, rather than trying other options, choose to wage a war on Iran to achieve its objectives? Were it not possible for Saddam Hussein to assume his position as the leader of the Arab World through peaceful alternatives? The analytical framework of “the struggle for recognition” is able to provide answers to these questions. The aforementioned proposition could be clarified through this analytical framework. This paper applies “the struggle for recognition” to further explore the causes of the Iraqi invasion of Iran. States struggle to enforce the recognition of their right to life in international arena (thin recognition) and compel the world to recognize their various identity layers, including status (thick recognition). This paper, therefore, explains how Iraq’s struggle for recognition of its status as the regional hegemon and the leader of the Arab World led to violence and eventually the War.