Ba'ath Par ‧ ty, the /bɑːˈɑːθ ˌpɑːti, ˈbɑːθ $ ˈbɑː-ɑːθ ˌpɑːr-/ BrE AmE
a ↑ secular (=not connected with religion) political party that was first started in Syria in the 1940s and whose members believe that individual Arab countries are part of a larger Arab State. Saddam Hussein became an important member of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, and succeeded in taking control of the government in 1968. In the 2003 Iraq War, the Ba'ath Party and Saddam Hussein were defeated by Coalition Forces and lost control of Iraq. It is still the ruling the party in Syria.