Notes on Revisiting the ‘Fertile Crescent"
The American archaeologist, James Breasted’s, concept of a Mesopotamian
"Fertile Crescent" is now being revived after nearly a century of review and
reevaluation. The triangular geographic area that lies within the
Tigris-Euphrates River Valley is not only the scene of trenchant tribal and
sectarian strife, but also home to concentrated efforts to revitalize Iraq’s
struggling agrarian sector through the infusion of $500 million from the
2008 national budget. (1) Prospective projects are being aimed, partially,
at an infrastructure development that had been delayed, or had strenuously
declined and fragmented, with one result being the fact that participants in
an historically thriving agricultural landscape are now known to produce
only 30% of their country’s annual internal requirements.
Less transparent are the workings of the urban side of an ancient
balance, which saw increasing agricultural production contribute vitally to
the rise and support of expanding metropolitan areas and populations.
Nevertheless, media observers have noted the continuation of pilgrimage
economies along well-traveled routes to today’s holy sites, as well as
markets and small-scale shops that continue to link countryside and city
despite curfews and the disruption to routines brought about by frequent
closure and reopening.
Recent considerations of EU foreign policy underscore the challenges of
achieving unity among 27 member nations, so that a situationally-derived
approach to external affairs often appears evident. (2) However,
pan-European links to Iraq have maintained stability over the past few
years. The growth of energy cooperation has been a major focus. So, too, has
been an allocation of Euro 800 million since 2003, a portion of which has
engendered both macro and micro-projects aimed at the reduction of poverty
and water and sanitation improvements, or issues that act to cross-cut
existent sectarian and tribal cleavages as well as that which in the
historic experience might have been looked on as an artificial urban-rural
divide. (3)
Conditions of conflict are obviously not the optimal for the collection
of detailed survey materials on the quality and quantity of urban small
business enterprise, which continues to provide employment opportunity to
nearly 80% of all Iraqis. Studies from 2003 and 2005 are dated yet
nonetheless indicate a respective 54% and 69% level of confidence about
national and local economies on the part of over 600 selected small and
medium size managers in major Iraqi cities. (4) Comparisons and contrasts
with similarly designed contemporary studies might provide needed
clarification given the apparent capacity of urban entrepreneurship to
retain an organizational continuity under trying conditions and the
significant contribution of small and medium size Iraqi enterprises to the
metropolitan labor force. The outcome of future research might also provide
materials useful to current debates about on-going Iraqi security needs and
mid-April’s planned overview of the EU’s budget for 2013 to 2020.
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(1) Al-Jumaily,Subhi. "Iraqis ‘Ambitious’ To Upgrade Agricultural
Sector." Embassy of the United States. Embassy News. (3/12/2008) (2)
Safarikova, Katerina. Olympics: Gold-Plated Foreign Policy. Transitions
Online. (4/3/2008) (3) European Commission. "ENPI Regional Strategy Paper
2007-2013- and Regional Indicative Program 2007-2010". (2007). Ibid: "EU and
Iraq Discuss Ways of Enhancing Energy Cooperation." Press Release.
(1/31/2008) (4) Omar, Road and Sabah Kheshak. "Conditions and Expectations
For Private Enterprise In Iraq: Findings From a Survey of Small and Medium
Size Business Owners and Managers". Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, Center For International Private Enterprise. (2003); "The Future
of Iraq: Survey of the Iraqi Business Community." Center for International
Private Enterprise, Zogby International Poll. (9/28/2005)
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