The Impact of US Soft Power on the United States' Growing Influence in Iraq

The US invasion against Saddam's regime in 2003, though yielded significant military victory with low casualties, but to consolidate and increase its influence and benefit from this swift military victory, so it needed to put other dimensions of power on the agenda. Therefore, it has applied more soft power in Iraq, especially since the Obama administration. In this study, to examine the US influence of soft power on Iraqis, this question is raised: what are the indicators of American soft power in Iraq and which dimension of soft power has made Iraqis most attractive? By using the theoretical model of soft power and a descriptive-analytical approach, it is concluded that Washington has used the political, cultural, economic, and scientific indicators of soft power simultaneously and the cultural dimension of American soft power has been more appealing to the Iraqi people. The application of soft power has made the Iraqi people's attitude toward the US partly moderated, especially since 2014; but the United States remains, alongside the Zionist regime, the most undesirable states in the public opinion of the Iraqi people, especially Iraqi Sunni Arabs.