Iraq, a nationless state

The Iraqi national elections took place on the 10th of October 2021. Iraqis will now have to choose a Kurdish president of the republic, a Shia prime minister and a Sunni president of the National Assembly.

Post Electoral-Iraq: A country faced with its demons

On the 10th of October 2021, Iraqis voted to elect and send 329 members to the new National Assembly. 28 days later, on Sunday the 7th of November, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was the victim of an assassination attempt from which he escaped unscathed.

Iraq under the Shia leadership: the failure of their governance

Since 2003, the Shia elites have moved from the fringes of the opposition during the creation of the Iraqi state in 1921, to the centre of power. From the excluded majority, they are now the dominant majority. Since 2003, they have the state, they are the state. They have at their disposal all resources of the second most oil-rich state in the world.

Iraq : The Political System’s Deadlock

On the 10th of October 2021, Iraq organised legislative elections. The 7th of November, the militant base of the Iraqi militias protested in front of the Green Zone to contest the results.

The difficult Kurdish Dilemma around the next Iraqi President

The Iraqi national elections were held on October 10, 2021. Iraqis will now have to elect a Kurdish president of, a Shia prime minister and a Sunni president of the National Assembly.

The Kurds of Daesh: Reasons behind the radicalisation of a generation

Kurdish jihadism already has a 40-year history. It has gone through several phases: from the Islamisation of the Kurdish struggle (Islamic Movement of Kurdistan), to the internationalisation of the Islamist struggle (Ansar al-Islam).

National ambition, divergent vision: Consensus and fracture among Iraqi youth activists of the Tishreen Movement

Since October 2019, Iraq has been witnessing a mass protest movement, heavily though not exclusively centered in Baghdad and the country’s southern provinces and largely led by youth. This new uprising, referred to as the October Revolution or Tishreen protests, while initially fueled by socioeconomic grievances and the lack of basic services, quickly transformed into a broader political movement calling for radical change to the political order. Rallying around the slogan “we want a homeland,” a hallmark of this new movement has been the effort on the part of activists to put forth a new collective Iraqi identity, moving past sectarian divides and envisioning new state-society relations and a break with the transactional social contract currently in place.

The return of Daesh, the big winner of the geopolitical game in the Middle East

The bells have rung announcing the return of the monster, Daesh! Now Washington is compelled to re-engage and mobilise its fighting forces to intervene in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) and resume the war against Daesh. Yet, since the end of 2017, the major capitals have been promoting a discourse explaining that Daesh had been sent away for good !

Why does the Devil await the Iraqis ?

Adel Bakawan, founder and director of the French Research Center on Iraq, ponders on the future that awaits the Iraqis, his observation is alarming: between an ongoing political deadlock, the sacrifice of its population by the Iraqi elites, difficulties in accessing drinkable water, non-functional schools... yet, why is the worst yet to come ?

Iran and Turkey: Will the invasion of Kurdistan take place?

Adel Bakawan, director of the French Center for Research on Iraq, deciphers an unprecedented and worrying situation. Turkey has launched a series of air raids and artillery strikes against Kurdish positions in Iraq and Syria, while the Iranian regime is using missiles to target Iraqi Kurdistan and violently repress its Kurdish province. Why are Tehran and Ankara tightening their grip over this disturbing minority?