China in Iraq After the War: From Underdog to Unassailable

Azad offers a compelling analysis of how China used the turmoil that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq to become the country’s dominant economic partner. Chinese leaders spent decades building personal ties with Iraqi leaders; provided infrastructure investments through the Belt and Road Initiative, despite the security dangers that came with working in Iraq; structured initial deals on generous terms in the hope of securing larger deals down the road; operated outside nascent legal boundaries by going along with corrupt bureaucratic practices; and offered education and training to Iraqis and technology transfers to Iraqi firms. As U.S. involvement in Iraq foundered in the years following the invasion, China also fanned the flames of anti-Americanism, portraying the United States as an unreliable and feckless partner. By the early 2020s, China had become Iraq’s top trading partner and investor. But not everything in the relationship has gone smoothly. Azad highlights the mass protests that broke out over the lack of transparency and accountability in the so-called oil-for-reconstruction deal between China and Iraq in 2019. The deal, which bartered Iraqi crude oil for Chinese companies undertaking local construction projects, stalled in 2022, raising questions about China’s future role in the country.