Baathist Middle East

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. It is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arabism, Arab socialist and anti-imperialist interests. The Ba’ath ultimately formed branches in various nations in the Middle East beyond Syria, such as Iraq, Lybia, and Jordan.

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The Iraqi Regional Branch supported leader Qasim's rule on the grounds that he would seek Iraq's entry into the United Arab Republic, although he reversed his stance, which led to a coup against him by Saddam Hussein and other followers. Despite the coup’s failure and the arrest of Saddam, he ultimately worked his way to power through bloody purges.

The collection largely focuses on Saddam’s Iraq and Assad’s Syria, since object collection has proven to be challenging. The collection highlights military and party aspects of both the Saddam and the Assad regimes.