The Persisting Past of Iraq
Peace and stability are high priorities for Iraq today. Yet to be effective, engagements for peace need to consider various cleavages, dynamics, and influences, argues Mae Anna Chokr in this CSS Analysis.
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, the central state of Iraq became much weaker and more fragmented. It is characterized by high levels of corruption, dysfunctional oversight mechanisms and limited political and judicial accountability. Non-state actors have benefited from the power vacuum of the central state and have also aligned with different regional actors – namely Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. Iraq consists of a rich and ethnically diverse history despite its major sectarian fault lines. According to the World Population Review 2021 Iraq today consists of approximately 75 per cent Arabs, 17 per cent Kurds and a further eight per cent of other minorities. While the Constitution guarantees the freedom of religious beliefs, Islam is the official religion of Iraq, with believed estimates of 65 per cent Shiites and 35 per cent Sunnis.