Foreign Policy Decision-Making by Iraqi Elites in the Post-Saddam Period (on the Example of Iraqi-Chinese Relations)

The article attempts to analyze foreign policy decision-making by Iraqi elites using the example of their relations with China. It is worth noting that in the scientific literature very little attention is paid to the decision-making process in Iraq itself. Iraq’s foreign policy aims to use the strengthening of Arab-Chinese relations to advance its interests in harmonizing regional dynamics. China appreciates Iraq’s support and assistance in developing Sino-Arab collective cooperation and is willing to work with it to successfully implement the results of the first Sino-Arab Forum to bring the Sino-Arab strategic partnership relationship to a higher level. In addition, among the recent trends is China’s purchase of shares of Western companies in Iraqi oil projects. Such Chinese activity, however, leads to a reaction from Iraqi elites seeking to maintain a balance in their relations with global players. For this reason, further dealings by Chinese companies are believed to face difficulties. The interdependence of Iraq and China is not absolute, since the current elites of Iraq are still diverse and are focused on different groups of influence abroad. This paper also traces the dependence of Iraqi-Chinese relations on the dynamics of intra-elite struggle in Iraq.