Joseph- Iraq and Lebanon

Saud Jospeh compares two examples of elite rule and their affect on women in Iraq and Lebanon. In Iraq, the Ba'th party socialized most aspects of society, including women's political participation, labor, and childcare. In order to guarantee loyalty to the state and the cult of leadership, the Ba'th party presented women's involvement with strict bureaucratization to keep power within the Ba'th party, while simultaneously loosening women's connections and reliance on family/kin/tribal ties. Despite all of their social programs, women still didn't welcome the changes with open arms and remained distrustful of the state, mainly because of the culture of fear the state had created as an authoritarian regime. Yet, these programs gave women more equal standing with men than in many "free" states around the world, but both Iraqi men and women, while equal, had little say in their government.

Contrary to Iraqi policy, Lebanon pushed for the opposite reinforcement of its state. Lebanon's unique structure of sectarian representation has led to a deeply divided state by religion and ethnicity. The state is so weak, that it has hardly any influence over its citizens. Instead women must rely on religious/familial ties in the private sector for all their needs. This meant that women had no loyalty to the state, and the state continued to support divided loyalties to different sects so that Lebanon's representation will stay in place. Despite the efforts of both states to increase loyalty to each state's type of rule, both Iraqis and Lebanese have little loyalty to their respective states' and are dissatisfied with the status quo of rule.