Bordering on War

A study of transnational identity, migration, and state loyalties told through the social and political history of Irans Khuzestan province. In 1980, Saddam Husseins Baathist forces invaded Khuzestan, one of the oldest and richest provinces in Iran, triggering the Iran-Iraq War. Shaherzad Ahmadis Bordering on War examines the social history of Khuzestan and sheds light on how border dwellers, provincial leaders, and migrants in the region shaped Iran and Iraq's history before, during, and after the war. Drawing from a rich collection of Persian- and Arabic-language archival sourcesrarely used by western scholars due to restrictions in IranAhmadis research focuses on Arab Iranians and argues that Iranian border dwellers and migrants formed local, non-national loyalties, thereby eschewing bureaucratic pressures to confine loyalties to a single nation-state. The transnational character and ethnically diverse composition of Khuzestan, and especially the oil-rich towns in the southwestern border, led many, including Iraqs Baath Party, to question the national belonging of Arab Iranians. Bordering on War contributes to a wider discussion about the ability of individuals and communities to exert agency through migration, trade, education, and other activities.