Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran War

The Iraq-Iran crisis stands as one of the most intricate conflicts in the Middle East. This study employs the poliheuristic (PH) theory to scrutinize Iraq’s decision-making throughout the crisis. Utilizing Mintz’s (1993, 2004) PH model, the research aims to uncover the decision-making processes and...

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Main Author: Fatih Oğuzhan İpek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: İlmi Etüdler Derneği (İLEM) 2025-03-01
Series:İnsan & Toplum
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.insanvetoplum.org/uploads/2025/03/15_1_4.pdf
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author Fatih Oğuzhan İpek
author_facet Fatih Oğuzhan İpek
author_sort Fatih Oğuzhan İpek
collection DOAJ
description The Iraq-Iran crisis stands as one of the most intricate conflicts in the Middle East. This study employs the poliheuristic (PH) theory to scrutinize Iraq’s decision-making throughout the crisis. Utilizing Mintz’s (1993, 2004) PH model, the research aims to uncover the decision-making processes and outcomes during this period by scrutinizing the major policy dimensions and options accessible to Iraq’s leadership. In addition, it seeks an answer to the question of why Iraq, as a rising power in Middle Eastern politics, waged war against revolutionary Iran rather than sustaining diplomacy efforts initiated with Pehlevi Iran. The findings align with existing PH literature, revealing that Iraqi decision-makers followed a two-stage decision-making approach during the crisis. In the first stage, Iraqi leaders discarded options that could lead to losses, adhering to a non-compensatory rule. In the second stage, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s decisions were guided by expected utility maximization.
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language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher İlmi Etüdler Derneği (İLEM)
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spelling doaj-art-97890041d4a14bc89e48284b46bf53662025-08-20T02:56:37Zengİlmi Etüdler Derneği (İLEM)İnsan & Toplum2146-70992602-27452025-03-01151789310.12658/M0755Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran WarFatih Oğuzhan İpek 0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8216-6287Independent ResearcherThe Iraq-Iran crisis stands as one of the most intricate conflicts in the Middle East. This study employs the poliheuristic (PH) theory to scrutinize Iraq’s decision-making throughout the crisis. Utilizing Mintz’s (1993, 2004) PH model, the research aims to uncover the decision-making processes and outcomes during this period by scrutinizing the major policy dimensions and options accessible to Iraq’s leadership. In addition, it seeks an answer to the question of why Iraq, as a rising power in Middle Eastern politics, waged war against revolutionary Iran rather than sustaining diplomacy efforts initiated with Pehlevi Iran. The findings align with existing PH literature, revealing that Iraqi decision-makers followed a two-stage decision-making approach during the crisis. In the first stage, Iraqi leaders discarded options that could lead to losses, adhering to a non-compensatory rule. In the second stage, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s decisions were guided by expected utility maximization.https://www.insanvetoplum.org/uploads/2025/03/15_1_4.pdfiraqiraniraq-iran warpoliheurestic theory
spellingShingle Fatih Oğuzhan İpek
Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran War
İnsan & Toplum
iraq
iran
iraq-iran war
poliheurestic theory
title Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran War
title_full Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran War
title_fullStr Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran War
title_full_unstemmed Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran War
title_short Iraq and Iran: A Poliheuristic Assessment of the Iraq-Iran War
title_sort iraq and iran a poliheuristic assessment of the iraq iran war
topic iraq
iran
iraq-iran war
poliheurestic theory
url https://www.insanvetoplum.org/uploads/2025/03/15_1_4.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT fatihoguzhanipek iraqandiranapoliheuristicassessmentoftheiraqiranwar