Introduction After two years of political turmoil in Nineveh, the appointment of the retired general Najm al-Jabouri as governor created a sense of optimism locally. Finally the province would be ruled by a popular and decisive figure who would restore a measure of public authority and... Read More

**تتوفر ادناه نسخة من المقال باللغة العربية** Iraqi protesters’ resilience and commitment to their objectives have arguably been unmatched in Iraq’s modern history. To better understand the remarkable durability of the movement, IRIS reached out to 10 protesters and activists from several provinces (e.g., Baghdad, Najaf, Anbar), some of whom... Read More

Amidst the ongoing policy conversation about US-Iran escalations and the consequences for the American presence in the region, scant attention has been given to the nuances of the positions of different Iraqi political factions on these matters. Perhaps this is because policymakers assume that Iran will ultimately dictate how Iraq’s... Read More

Based on 50 interviews with key figures in Basra and Mosul’s government, private sector, and civil society (conducted by the authors during March–September 2019) as well as an extensive desk review of media and government sources, this study aims to understand the breakdown of the relationship between state and citizen... Read More

This blogpost, originally published by the London School of Economics Middle East Centre, is part of the LSE research project ‘Conflict Drivers within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: The Role of Patronage Networks’ led by Mac Skelton and Zmkan Ali Saleem, examining the Kurdistan Regional Government’s patronage networks... Read More

In Basra’s mass protests of 2018, unemployment was central to the rhetoric and mobilization strategies of all the key political actors – protesters, government officials, party elites, and tribal leaders. Basrawi protesters chanted slogans about rampant joblessness – first in small disjointed groups and ultimately coalescing into massive crowds that... Read More

To date, the policy discussion on Basra has revolved around whether or not the newly appointed central government under Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi’s leadership can deliver basic services to a population angered over many years of stalled, failed infrastructure projects. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the impact of... Read More

The campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) culminated on 9 December 2017 when Prime Minister Abadi declared that ISIL no longer controlled territory inside Iraq. After years of fighting, tens of thousands of combatants began to return home, many to communities affected by war and... Read More

Conflict between Erbil and Baghdad over the disputed internal boundaries (DIBs) has long been a central destabilizing feature of the post-2003 era. However, in recent years, two major events – the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014 and the Kurdish independence referendum of 2017 – have transformed the... Read More

This report analyzes the 2018 government formation process in Iraq. It argues that the process is marked by two competing trends, a bottom-up movement demanding institutional change symbolized by a low voter turnout and incumbency rate, and a top-down system that reinforces identity-based politics and the post-2003 order. The failure... Read More