Lisa Blaydes and Samuel Helfont eds., "Ba‘thist Iraq Through Archives: Reflections, Explorations, and Opportunities" (Stanford UP, 2026)

The opening of Iraq's Ba'th

Party archives revolutionized the study of Iraqi politics and history,

offering scholars unprecedented access to the inner workings of one of

the world's most impenetrable autocracies. Ba‘thist Iraq Through Archives: Reflections, Explorations, and Opportunities (Stanford University Press, 2026) edited by Dr. Lisa Blaydes

and Dr. Samuel Helfont brings together leading scholars to take stock

of what we have learned from over a decade of research using the Ba'thist

archives, contributing to a new understanding of Iraq's history, with

wider implications for understanding authoritarianism in general.

The

contributors show how research in these unique archives challenges

previous assumptions about Ba'thist Iraq and the workings of

authoritarian regimes. Their chapters provide