An Analysis of the Effects of the Cold War and the Bipolar System on Iran-Iraq Relations in the Second Pahlavi Period

Abstract

With the end of World War II, major changes took place in international relations and the groundwork was laid for the formation of a bipolar system. The United States and the Soviet Union, as leaders of the Eastern and Western blocs, faced each other in all-out rivalry. The Middle East was also one of the areas of competition between the two superpowers. During the Cold War, the superpowers sought to achieve their goals by recruiting members from the Middle East. The governments of the region, including Iran and Iraq, by joining one of the two superpowers, were practically in one of these two camps. The leaders of the two blocs, as they committed themselves to supporting their regional allies, expected to follow their own policies, so that the management of the situation was practically in the hands of the superpowers and the actions of the regional allies were pursued solely in the interests of those countries.The relations of the weak countries with each other were guided and controlled by the will of the big countries, and they were separated or close to each other, so that these countries, in the interests of the dominant powers, fought with each other and got involved in proxy wars. In the research, the effects of the Cold War on Iran-Iraq relations have been studied and analyzed based on the descriptive method along with the analysis and collection of information in a library manner.

Keywords

• bipolar system
• us
• soviet union
• iran
• iraq