" Zmkan Ali Saleem
About
Dr. Zmkan Ali Saleem is a Research Fellow at IRIS and previously served as the Director of Research at IRIS. During his tenure, Dr. Saleem has served as a lead researcher for projects funded by the FCDO, UNAMI, European Union and the Norwegian Research Council focusing on political economy in Iraq and Kurdistan. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Leeds/UK and teaches in the College of Political Science at the University of Sulaimani. His doctoral research examined the domestic determinants of Iran’s regional security policies. Saleem’s later research examined the domestic and regional determinants of Turkey’s foreign policy toward the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Saleem has contributed to the Fikra Forum at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he focused on the issue of sectarianism in Iraq. His current research interests include the role of non-state security actors in shaping governance and stability in Iraq.
Policy Publications
- Climate Adaption Key to Iraq’s Stability and Economic Development. United States Institute of Peace. November 2023.
- Living Among the Hashd: Relations Between Citizens and Security Actors in Five Iraqi Provinces. IRIS. July 2021.
- Displacement and Iraq's Political Marketplace: Addressing Political Barriers to IDP Return. IRIS.February 2021.
- Assessing Iraqi Kurdistan's Stability: How Patronage Shapes Conflict. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre and Conflict Research Programme. July 2020.
- Iraq's Political Marketplace at the Subnational Level: The Struggle for Power in Three Provinces. London School of Economics. Conflict Research Programme, . June 2020.
- Prisoner of the Deal: Nineveh's Governor and Local State Capture. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. March 2020.
- Why Iraq’s Protestors Won’t Go Home: 10 Voices from the Movement. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. March 2020.
- The US Presence in Iraq: Emerging Positions of Iraqi Political Parties. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. January 2020.
- Protests and Power: Lessons from Iraqi Kurdistan's Opposition Movement. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. November 2019.
- Mosul and Basra After the Protests: The Roots of Government Failure and Popular Discontent. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. October 2019.
- The Kurdish Duopoly: The Political Economy of Two-Party Rule. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. September 2019.
- Basra’s Protest Movement and Unemployment: Contesting Party Dominance of the Oil Sector. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. June 2019.
- Basra’s Political Marketplace: Understanding Government Failure after the Protests. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. April 2019.
- Security and Governance in the Disputed Territories: The Case of Northern Diyala. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre blog. Nov. 2018.
Peer Reviewed
- Iraq’s Disputed Internal Boundaries after Daesh: Heterogenous Actors Vying for Influence, London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. Feb. 2019.
