英国在伊拉克的殖民主义遗产及影响

The Legacy of British Colonization in Iraq and Its Impact

英国在一战后划定并拼组了"人造国家"伊拉克,获得对伊拉克的委任统治权。出于维护英国利益的需要,英国在伊拉克的政治、经济、社会领域推行殖民统治,实行"分而治之"政策,直接影响了伊拉克的民族国家建构过程。英国在托管并控制伊拉克的近40年中,扶植亲英的逊尼派政治力量——费萨尔政权,打压什叶派穆斯林和库尔德人,埋下了族群矛盾和宗派矛盾的祸根。基于沙聚之邦的历史基础,加之殖民主义遗产的持续存在,伊拉克共和国建立后,英、美等西方大国在伊拉克的影响从未缺位过,英国的实际霸权仍在伊拉克起作用,主要表现为:扶植亲西方政治力量,干预复兴社会党政权,主导伊拉克国家战后重建。与此同时,历史遗留的民族矛盾、教派冲突仍是伊拉克陷入混乱与动荡的根源所在。国家认同的弱化制约了伊拉克统一的现代民族国家与强有力有效政府的形成。

After World War I,Britain not only carved out and assembled an"artificial state"of Iraq,but also gained a mandate to rule it.In order to safeguard its own interests,Britain carried out colonial rule in the political,economic and social fields of Iraq and implemented the policy of"divide and rule",which directly affected the process of nation-state construction in Iraq.During the forty years of their control over Iraq,the British colonialism has sowed the seeds of ethnic and sectarian strife by favouring the Faisal regime,a pro-British Sunni political force over the other minorities while ruling harshly over the Shia and the Kurds.Based on the history of Iraq without building a nation and the persistence of the colonial legacy,Western powers such as Britain and the United States never lost their influence in Iraq,especially after the establishment of the Republic of Iraq.The actual hegemony of Britain is still playing a role in Iraq,which is mainly manifested as fostering pro-Western political forces,intervening in the Baathist regime and leading the post-war reconstruction of Iraq.At the same time,ethnic and sectarian conflicts left over from history are still the root cause of Iraq’s descent into chaos and turmoil.The weakening of national identity also restricts the formation of a unified modern nation-state and a strong and effective government in Iraq.