German Aid For Iraqi Higher Education

German Aid for Iraqi Higher Education

Every indication is that as soon as they get their independence, the Iraqi politicians will immediately invite France, Germany and Russia into Iraq as investors and advisers, so as to offset American dominance. At that point it is difficult to see what the US could do about it, since the Iraqis will increasingly have an oil income that will make them wealthy and autonomous. They will soon leave behind their need for American aid.

A harbinger of all this is the trip of Iraq’s interim education minister to Berlin, where, according to AFP/al-Sharq al-Awsat, he received assurances of German aid to Iraq in rebuilding its higher education infrastructure. Iraqi universities were once among the more advanced in the Arab world.

This development cannot help but have resonances for historians. German thought was key to early twentieth century Iraqi educational reform.