Publication

This paper analyzes the non-conformist ideas among Iraqi Shi'as about the territorial integrity of the modern state of Iraq. The author explains how internet communications technology has enabled radical Shi'as outside the main clerical, intellectual and political establishments to propagate visions of an independent Shi'a state for the areas south of Baghdad, a scheme that runs counter to a robust and long-standing anti-separatist tradition among wider sections of the Shi'a community. The paper states that evidence from the internet suggests that advocates of outright secession still remain peripheral to the Shi'a community as a whole, and that there are fairly good prospects for the Shi'as staying committed to the framework of a unified Iraq – albeit a decentralized and probably federalized one.