Mapping multiple factors shaping the future of governance in Iraq
In October 2021 parliamentary elections were organized in Iraq, but still the most urgent and structural problems remain unresolved. In the past year, SALAR International has issued two reports elaborating on the most pertinent underlying reasons for the current situation.
The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) and SALAR International are implementing the Sida-funded Local Governance Development in Iraq (LOGDEVI) project, which is part of an almost decade long collaboration with local partners in Iraq. As the project is between implementation phases, the need to thoroughly analyse the broader context of Iraq has been identified.
Bitte Hammargren, independent Middle East and North Africa & Turkey analyst, journalist and writer, and Senior Associate Fellow at the Swedish Institute for Foreign Affairs (UI), was assigned to research and write a couple of analytical reports on the current state of affairs in Iraq and possible scenarios for the future. The first report provides an analysis of the pre-election actors and environment in 2021. The second report is based on field research carried out in south and central Iraq in late November 2021 which included interviews with youth activists, lawyers, academics, civil servants, retired Iraqis, a tribal sheikh engaged in business, unemployed youth, political leaders, and with high clerics in Iraq’s centre for Shiism, the hawza in Najaf.
Report: Iraq at a crossroads – Between sectarianism and a functional state (PDF)Pdf, 574 kB.
Report: Iraqis striving for change: We want a homeland (PDF)