Publication

This briefing discusses the constitutional process in Iraq and the underlying divisions between Iraq's three principal communities - Shi'ites, Kurds, and Sunni Arabs. The primary issues in dispute are the country's new federal structure, the outlawing of the Ba'ath party, and the question of national identity. The authors, critizicing the rushed process, claim that the Sunni Arabs will be the obvious losers if the present document is adopted. They believe that only a determined political intervention by the US might be capable of convincing the different sides to forge a durable and legitimate compact.