Reflections on a Mentor

This article positions the critical ideas of Ali al-Wardi on Iraqi society in general and its personality in particular, both its contradictions and duality between Bedouin and urban natures. The author maintains that these characteristics became much more relevant after the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq, which released the repressed tendencies of the Iraqi personality. The resurgence of these tendencies is reflected in the expressions of violence and terrorism which beset Iraq today. The author concludes by saying ‘we have to understand our reality […] and critically evaluate what is negative about ourselves [Iraqis]. We have to re-examine our intellectual discourse, social behaviour and political orientations.’ The author calls upon Iraqis to look at al-Wardi’s analysis of Iraq’s history in order to move forward.