Democracy in Iraq

Politics of Iraq

Member State of the Arab League

* * *

Constitution

Government

* Federal government
* President (list)

Abdul Latif Rashid
* Prime Minister (list)

Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani
* Cabinet

Current cabinet

Legislature

* Council of Representatives

Speaker: Mohamed al-Halbousi

Judiciary

* Supreme Court

Administrative divisions

* Governorates (provinces)
* Districts
* Kurdistan Region

Kurdistan Regional Government
Kurdistan Parliament

Elections

* Political parties
* Electoral Commission
* Recent elections

* Parliamentary: 2018
* 2021
* next

* Gubernatorial: 2009
* 2013
* 2023

* 2005 constitutional referendum

Foreign relations

* Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Minister: Fuad Hussein

* * *

* Diplomatic missions of / in Iraq

* * *

* Nationality law
* Passport
* Visa requirements
* Visa policy

* * *

* Foreign aid to Iraq
* Iraq and the United Nations

Iraq portal

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

Democracy in Iraq is a fledgling process, but Iraq achieved a more democratic approach than most surrounding countries.[1][2] Iraq has a score of 3.51 of ten on the 2021 The Economist Democracy Index, which is considered authoritarian. Iraq scored 0.362 on the V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index in 2023, ranking 3rd in the Middle East and 115th worldwide.[3] Numerous wars, corruption, and civil and ethnic conflict in Iraq have made it difficult for a stable democratic government to emerge.[4]

According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Iraqi government is a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic.[5][6] It is a multi-party system whereby the executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers as the head of government, as well as the President of Iraq, and legislative power is vested in the Council of Representatives.[7] The Prime Minister of Iraq appoints the Council of Ministers, which acts as the cabinet.[8]

## History

[edit]

Main article: Iraq § Contemporary period

Faisal I, King of Iraq from 1921 to 1933

Iraq historically (before 2003) had been under the rule of monarchs and dictators[9] and had never been a democracy.[10] For years, the Kurds had struggled for self-rule and independence from Iraq in what is known as the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict.[11] In 1992, the Kurds formed their own government, the Kurdistan Regional Government.[12]

From 1831 to 1917 Iraq was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.[13] The British Empire defeated the Ottomans in 1917[14] and began ruling the country as the British Mandate of Iraq. Concerned at the unrest in the mandated country, the British decided to step back from direct administration and create a monarchy to head Iraq while they maintained the mandate.[15] In March 1921, at the Cairo Conference, the British decided that a good candidate for ruling mandatory Iraq would be Faisal I because of his apparent conciliatory attitude towards the Great Powers and based on advice from T. E. Lawrence (more commonly known as Lawrence of Arabia).[16] Thus, Britain had imposed a Hāshimite monarchy on Iraq and defined the territorial limits of Iraq without taking into account the politics of the different ethnic and religious groups in the country, in particular those of the Kurds and the Assyrians to the north.[17] As a consequence, during the British occupation, the Shi'ites and Kurds fought for independence.[18]

In 1932, the British granted independence to the Kingdom of Iraq.[19] Faisal I ruled until his death in 1933, to be succeeded by his son, Ghazi I (1933–39), and Ghazi's son, Faisal II (1939–58).

In 1958, a coup d'état known as the 14 July Revolution was led by the Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim. This revolt was strongly anti-imperial and anti-monarchical in nature and had strong socialist elements. Numerous people were killed in the coup, including King Faysal II, Prince Abd al-Ilah, and Nuri al-Sa'id.[20] Qasim controlled Iraq through military rule and in 1958 he began a process of forcibly reducing the surplus amounts of land owned by a few citizens and having the state redistribute the land. He was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif in a February 1963 coup. After the latter's death in 1966, he was succeeded by his brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, who was overthrown by the Ba'ath Party in 1968. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr became the first Ba'ath President of Iraq but then the movement gradually came under the control of Saddam Hussein, who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), then Iraq's supreme executive body, in July 1979. Iraq under Saddam Hussein was considered an authoritarian regime.[21] The new regime modernized the countryside and rural areas of Iraq, mechanizing agriculture and establishing farm cooperatives.[22] However, Hussein's ambition soon led him to be involved in various conflicts, with disastrous results to the infrastructure of Iraq.[23] Hussein, a Sunni Arab, brutally repressed a Kurdish uprising during the Iran-Iraq war using chemical weapons and other indiscriminate means that killed 100,000-200,000 Kurds.[24][25]

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for allies in the middle east which resulted in Iraq signing a treaty with the Soviet Union.[26] According to historian Charles R. H. Tripp, the treaty upset "the US-sponsored security system established as part of the Cold War in the Middle East. It appeared that any enemy of the Baghdad regime was a potential ally of the United States."[26]

### American occupation (2003–2011)

[edit]

Main article: Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)

Statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Baghdad's Firdos Square in 2003

A U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 ousted Saddam Hussein's administration, for the purpose of eliminating weapons of mass destruction.[27] Soon, the promotion of democracy became a second stated goal for the U.S. in Iraq.[27][28]

From May 2003 until June 2004, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) governed Iraq, which as of July 2003 was assisted by the Iraqi Governing Council, consisting of tribal leaders appointed by the CPA to provide advice to the CPA provisional government. In June 2004 the sovereignty over Iraq was handed over again from the U.S. to an Iraqi Interim Government led by Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, and the Iraqi voters went to the polls in January 2005 to elect 275 MPs to the Iraqi Transitional Government's National Assembly. It was a transitory body tasked with writing the nation's constitution. A further election followed in December 2005 to select members of the permanent legislature.

These elections resulted in a "government of national unity"—which is a codeword for a government constructed along the muhasasa-system[29]—in May, 2006, composed of the four largest parties in the 275-seat-Parliament: United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) (128 seats) which included all major Shi'a parties; the Kurdistan Alliance (DPAK) (53 seats) consisting of the main (ruling) parties of Iraqi Kurdistan; the Iraqi Accord Front (Tawafuq) (44 seats) consisting of Sunni Arab parties; and the Iraqi National List (25 seats), a secular party composed of both Sunnis and Shiites. However, insurgent attacks and other violence were common and protracted the country's instability.

Until (at least) 2008, parliamentary elections in Iraq were generally free and fair, with a high voter turnout, but were frequently marred by violence.[30] The president of the republic, who has little real powers but can function as an informal mediator between different political groupings, is also chosen by the parliament.

Despite spending billions to promote democracy in Iraq,[31] the United States' attempt to form a democratic government there is largely considered a failure and has been called "democratic disillusionment."[32][33] A 2011 study Costs of War from Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies concluded that democracy promotion has been flawed from the beginning in Iraq, noting as early as 2006 that "there were clear signs that post-Saddam Iraq was not going to be the linchpin for a new democratic Middle East." Corruption was rampant as the United States prepared to withdraw many of its combat troops.[27]

### 2011 protests

[edit]

Main article: 2011 Iraqi protests

In 2011, as an effort to prevent potential unrest, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that he would not run for a third term and called for a constitutional term limit.[34] Nevertheless, hundreds of protesters gathered in several major Iraqi urban areas on 12 February (notably Baghdad and Karbala) demanding a more effective approach to the issue of national security and investigation into federal corruption cases, as well as government action towards making public services fair and accessible.[35] The protests resulted in at least 45 deaths, including at least 29 on 25 February 2011, the "Day of Rage".[36][37]

### War against the Islamic State (2013–2017)

[edit]

Main article: War in Iraq (2013–2017)

The war by Iraq and its allies against the Islamic State has led to numerous human rights issues. Nearly 19,000 civilians were killed in Iraq in ISIL-linked violence between January 2014 and October 2015.[38] ISIL executed up to 1,700 Shia Iraqi Air Force cadets from Camp Speicher near Tikrit on 12 June 2014.[39] The genocide of Yazidis by ISIL has led to the expulsion, flight and effective exile of the Yazidi people from their ancestral lands in northern Iraq.[40]

According to Newsweek, Amnesty International claimed that "Iraqi government forces and paramilitary militias have tortured, arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared and executed thousands of civilians who have fled the rule of the Islamic State militant group".[41] The report, titled Punished for Daesh's crimes', alleges that thousands of Sunni men and boys have been forcibly disappeared by Iraqi government forces and militias.[42]

### 2019 protests

[edit]

Main article: 2019–2021 Iraqi protests

Protesters shutdown Al-Khulani Square in October 2019

In 2019, Iraq saw a series of protests consisting of demonstrations, marches, sit-ins and civil disobedience.[43] It started on 1 October 2019, a date which was set by civil activists on social media, spreading mainly over the central and southern provinces of Iraq, to protest corruption, unemployment, political sectarianism, inefficient public services and interventionism.[44] The protest then escalated into calls to overthrow the Iraqi government and soon forced the incumbent government to resign in December 2019, by which time more than 400 demonstrators had been killed and many more injured. Nationwide demonstrations persisted in Iraq throughout the first quarter of 2020,[45] but momentum began to wane as exhaustion set in, and finally, the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown measures brought the movement to an end. Nonetheless, the protestors' key demands (improved governance, public services, and job prospects) have mostly remained unmet. The notion that the advantages of the country's significant oil riches are not being felt by regular Iraqis is at the core of the discontent, with the blame laid on corruption, both locally in Iraqi politics and internationally as a consequence of foreign influence. Iraq was mired in political stalemate for much of 2020, as rival political groupings battled to agree on a leader.[46] Since the appointment of Mustafa Al-Kadhimi as Prime Minister on 7 May 2020 however, unnamed "prominent elements within Iraq's parliament" are alleged to have remained a stumbling block to any (unnamed) "reform progress".[clarification needed] As a result, Iraq's lowest-scoring category is government functioning, with a score of zero. Iraq had the second-lowest score in the civil freedoms category, with a score of 1.18, down from 1.76 in 2019. The poor grade is due in part to lockdown limitations (which have had a global impact on civil rights), but it is also due to claims of increased usage of arbitrary detentions and allegations of torture being used to get confessions from suspected terrorists (including members of Islamic State and al-Qaida). Security personnel and armed militias, in particular, have been accused of employing oppressive techniques to quell protests, including the use of live bullets. Due to still-intermittent protest action, Iraq retains relatively high rankings in both the political involvement and political culture categories.[47]

### 2021–2022 political crisis

[edit]

Main article: 2021–2022 Iraqi political crisis

After Iraq's October 2021 parliamentary elections, it took twelve months to form a new Iraqi government: the longest such impasse since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The conflict was between the Sadrist Movement, supporters of the Shia religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr,[48] and the Iran-backed Coordination Framework Alliance led by Nouri al-Maliki.[49] The Council of Representatives of Iraq for a long time was unable to form a coalition government or elect a new President.[50] The political unrest several times caused protests and violence in Baghdad,[51] and was considered the most serious crisis in the country since the defeat of the Islamic State in the country in 2017, after which Iraq had had relative stability.[52]

On 27 October 2022 though, the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani, from the party 'Coordination Framework', was approved by the Council of Representatives.[53][54]

### Current status

[edit]

On the 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices electoral democracy index, Iraq ranked 3rd in the Middle East and 115th worldwide.[55][1] Iraq scored 0.362 on the V-Dem Democracy electoral democracy index in 2023. As of 27 October 2022, the Iraqi Prime Minister is Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani.

## Issues of political culture

[edit]

### Muhasasa political system

[edit]

Main article: Politics of Iraq § Elite cartel ruling Iraq by muhasasa

According to analysts and Iraqi protesters (see 2015–2018 Iraqi protests), the (democratic) politics of Iraq have since 2003 until at least late 2020 been dominated by a so-called muhasasa system, distributing the governmental positions over the "ethnic, religious and sectarian groups" of Iraq. Protesters and commentators have contended that that system has led to incompetent and corrupt government.

### Gridlock, repression, authoritarianism

[edit]

2018 Iraqi Parliamentary elections, a polling booth in Tehran (Iran)

On the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, compiled by a UK-based private enterprise (publisher of The Economist) since 2006, Iraq in the years 2006 until 2018 was scored as to be a 'hybrid regime' with scores between 4 and 6 on a scale from 0 to 10 (that is in between 'flawed democracy' (scores 6 until 8) and 'authoritarianism'). But since 2019 until at least 2022, Iraq was being scored as 'authoritarian' (scores 0 until 4).[47][56] The scores are based on answers to 60 questions answered by either experts or public opinion surveys. In 2020, when Iraq's overall score was 3.62, Iraq scored relatively high on political participation (6.67) and electoral process (5.25), thanks to its relatively free and fair elections. However, it scored zero (0) on the 'functioning of government' because of political gridlock through most of 2020 and elements in the Iraqi parliament blocking every form of political reform. Also very low was Iraq's score on 'civil liberties' (1.18), due partly to arbitrary detentions, allegations of torture in prisons, and violent repression of demonstrations by security forces.[47]

### Press freedom

[edit]

In 2019, a survey held under 100 Iraqi journalists showed that 44% of Iraqi journalists avoided reporting on potential corruption, because of political parties controlling the content of their work; 10% explained that their media institution simply forbade the covering of corruption, 6% feared retaliation of authorities if they did report on corruption. Also non-state groups regularly attacked journalists in revenge for reporting on corruption: since the Iraqi regime change of 2003 until 2019, 277 Iraqi journalists and 63 media assistants had been killed.[57]

Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit organisation based in France, since 2002 every year assesses the press freedom in all countries, in their Press Freedom Index. Iraq's score in the years 2018 until 2021 was between 43 and 48 (on a 100-point-scale),[58] which qualified as "difficult".[59] But in the year 2022, Iraq's score sank to 28.59[58] placing them in the lowest category qualified as "very serious".[59] Of the five contributing indicators: social, political, legislative, economic and security, the last two gave especially very low scores in 2022: 'security' scored 18.27, 'economic' scored 20.07. On indicator 'Safety/security', the RWF report over 2022 stated: "…Journalists in Iraq face threats from all sides and come up against the weakness of the state, which is failing in its duty to protect them (…) In recent years, many journalists in Iraq have been killed by armed groups (…) Such killings rarely lead to investigations (…) Death threats and abduction are also often used to terrorise and silence journalists. High-profile journalists used to be the main targets of such intimidation but nowadays it is also used against lesser-known journalists". And on indicator 'Economic context': "Media funding is closely tied to political affiliation; the greater a political party's resources, the more influential its affiliated media outlet. Many media outlets have abandoned editorial independence because of a lack of funds, or have simply stopped operating (…)".[60]

In 2020 until October, again four reporters in Iraq had been killed.[61] Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, is also closely criticizing the lack of engagement of Iraqi governments in safeguarding journalists and media organisations, who regularly report to have been attacked or threatened, even by state forces.[61]

### Corruption

[edit]

Main article: Corruption in Iraq

In 2008, the U.S. anti-corruption coordinator in Baghdad stated that many Iraqi government officials considered the Iraqi corruption "a serious problem"; an Iraqi official had estimated the cost of Iraqi State corruption over the year 2007 at $18 billion.[62] In a survey in 2019, 30% of Iraqis said that in more than 50% of the instances they needed a government official to perform a service for them, they were required to pay a bribe; 34% of respondents considered it acceptable to bribe to get a job or a promotion.[63]

The Israeli–U.S. Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) in September 2020 citing The New York Times stated that the Iraqi Central Bank functioned as "the sewage system of Iraqi corruption" by its daily auctions of foreign currencies allowing Iraqi private banks to convert Iraqi dinars into dollars to finance imports by local businessmen. Most Iraqi political leaders, especially those associated with Iran, had established their own banks which they used for money laundering and channeling corruptly procured money into Iran.[64] Other researchers have estimated in 2020 that between US $125 billion and $300 billion illegally acquired Iraqi money was held by Iraqis abroad.[63] Another example of corruption, revealed in 2020: the previous Minister of Electricity ostensibly 'hired' 82,555 daily workers at a cost of about $12 billion, but most of those workers didn't really exist; the money presumably was pinched.[64]

In May 2021, the Iraqi President Barham Salih estimated that 15% of the Iraqi oil revenues since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq—which totalled about one thousand billion dollars—had been "stolen" and "smuggled out of Iraq" in corrupt deals and therefore he submitted a draft Corrupt Funds Recovery Act to the Iraqi Parliament.[65]

Transparency International defines corruption as: "Abuse of entrusted power for private gain".[66] Over the year 2010, Transparency International gave Iraq the score 1.5 on their Corruption Perceptions Index[27] (showing a perception among experts and businesspeople), where 10 means 'very clean' and 0 means 'highly corrupt':[66] at that time worldwide surpassed negatively only by Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia.[27] In 2013, Iraq's score was nearly unchanged: 16 on a scale from 0 to 100. In the years up to 2021, Iraq's score improved to 23, which means that the Iraqi public sector was still seriously corrupt but improving.[66] In 2022 again, Iraq's score was 23, leaving behind them 19 countries in the world performing worse on corruption while 156 countries were considered less corrupt.[67]

## See also

[edit]

* Federal government of Iraq
* Elections in Iraq
* Politics of Iraq
* History of Iraq

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023
2. ^ Arif, Beston (1 December 2018). "The Role of Citizenship Education in Developing Democracy in Iraq". International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies. 5 (2): 152–163. doi:10.23918/ijsses.v5i2p152.
3. ^ Coppedge, Michael, John Gerring, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Staffan I. Lindberg, Jan Teorell, Nazifa Alizada, David Altman, Michael Bernhard, Agnes Cornell, M. Steven Fish, Lisa Gastaldi, Haakon Gjerløw, Adam Glynn, Allen Hicken, Garry Hindle, Nina Ilchenko, Joshua Krusell, Anna Lührmann, Seraphine F. Maerz, Kyle L. Marquardt, Kelly McMann, Valeriya Mechkova, Juraj Medzihorsky, Pamela Paxton, Daniel Pemstein, Josefine Pernes, Johannes von Römer, Brigitte Seim, Rachel Sigman, Svend-Erik Skaaning, Jeffrey Staton, Aksel Sundström, Eitan Tzelgov, Yi-ting Wang, Tore Wig, Steven Wilson and Daniel Ziblatt. 2021. "V-Dem [Country–Year/Country–Date] Dataset v11.1" Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. https://doi.org/10.23696/vdemds21.
4. ^ Cordesman, Anthony (25 October 2019). "Why Iraq is 'Burning'". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
5. ^ Constitution of Iraq, Section 1, Article 1
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9. ^ "Iraq - The 16th-century conquest of Iraq and the regime imposed by Süleyman I | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
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13. ^ Population crises and cycles in history A review of the book Population Crises and Population cycles by Claire Russell and W.M.S. Russell. valerieyule.com.au. 1999. ISBN 978-0-9504066-5-7. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
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17. ^ Dawson, James (15 August 2014). "Why Britain created monarchies in the Middle East". New Statesman. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
18. ^ Owtram, Francis (15 October 2019). "'No Friends but the Mountains': The Toxic Legacy of British Officialdom for the Kurds after the First World War". Middle East Centre. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
19. ^ Ongsotto et.al. Asian History Module-based Learning Ii' 2003 Ed. p69. [1]
20. ^ Cleveland, William (2016). A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
21. ^ Musallam, Musallam Ali (1996). The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait: Saddam Hussein, His State and International Power Politics. British Academic Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-86064-020-9.
22. ^ Batatu, Hanna (1979). The Old Social Classes & The Revolutionary Movement In Iraq. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-05241-7.
23. ^ "Iraq under Saddam Hussein". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
24. ^ Rajaee, Farhang, ed. (1993). The Iran–Iraq War: The Politics of Aggression. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-1177-6.
25. ^ Johns, Dave (24 January 2006). "The Crimes of Saddam Hussein". PBS Frontline. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
26. ^ a b Tripp, Charles (30 August 2007). A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press. pp. 211–214. ISBN 978-0-521-87823-4.
27. ^ a b c d e "Did the wars bring democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq?". Costs of War. Brown University. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
28. ^ Pratt, N. (2007),"Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Arab World": London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
29. ^ "Corruption Continues to Destabilize Iraq". Chatham House. 1 October 2019. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
30. ^ Enterline, Andrew J.; Greig, J. Michael (1 October 2008). "Against All Odds?: The History of Imposed Democracy and the Future of Iraq and Afghanistan". Foreign Policy Analysis. 4 (4): 321–347. doi:10.1111/j.1743-8594.2008.00074.x. ISSN 1743-8586.
31. ^ Caryl, Christian (6 March 2013). "The Democracy Boondoggle in Iraq". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
32. ^ "From invasion to failed state: Iraq's democratic disillusionment". openDemocracy. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
33. ^ Alkifaey, Hamid (19 December 2018). The Failure of Democracy in Iraq: Religion, Ideology and Sectarianism. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-80819-7.
34. ^ Jakes, Lara (5 February 2011). "Eye on unrest, Iraq PM says he won't seek 3rd term". MyWay. Associated Press. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
35. ^ "Iraq's Tishreen Uprising: From Barricades to Ballot Box". www.crisisgroup.org. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
36. ^ al-Ansary, Khalid (16 March 2011). "Iraq's Sadr followers march against Bahrain crackdown". Reuters. Baghdad. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
37. ^ Santana, Rebecca (2 April 2011). "Crackdown in Bahrain Enflames Iraq's Shiites". ABC News. Baghdad. Associated Press. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
38. ^ "Nearly 19,000 civilians killed in Iraq in 21-month period, report says". CNN. 19 January 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016.
39. ^ Ellis, Ralph (6 April 2015). "New mass graves found in Tikrit". CNN. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015.
40. ^ Arraf, Jane (7 August 2014). "Islamic State persecution of Yazidi minority amounts to genocide, UN says". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
41. ^ "Iraqi Civilians Fleeing ISIS in Mosul Face Torture and Death in Revenge Attacks: Amnesty". Newsweek. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016.
42. ^ "Mosul offensive: Iraqi-backed troops accused of torturing civilians ahead of operation to rid city of Isis". The Independent. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016.
43. ^ "Iraq: HRW denounces lethal force against protesters, urges probe". www.aljazeera.com.
44. ^ Arraf, Jane (18 September 2021). "'There Is Chaos': Iran-Backed Militias Battle Activists in a Holy Iraqi City". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
45. ^ Wahab, Bilal (6 October 2021). "Elections Without Democracy in Iraq?". The Washington Institute. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
46. ^ "Iraq Timeline: Since the 2003 War (29 May 2020)". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
47. ^ a b c "Outlook for 2021-25: Democracy Index: Iraq. - Document - Gale General OneFile (1 Feb 2021)". go.gale.com. Economist Intelligence Unit N.A. Incorporated. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
48. ^ Travers, Alannah (20 September 2022). "Young Iraqi activists despair as political crisis continues". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
49. ^ "In numbers... the coordination framework has become the "first force" in the Iraqi parliament" (in Arabic). Alhurra. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
50. ^ "Iraqi PM stresses inciting violence and chaos unacceptable". Iraqi News. 14 June 2022. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
51. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (31 August 2022). "Iraq's violence reflects an enduring dysfunction". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
52. ^ "Iraq chaos as al-Sadr supporters storm Green Zone after he quits". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
53. ^ "Iraqi parliament approves new government headed by Mohammed Shia al-Sudani". Reuters. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
54. ^ "Coordination Framework nominate Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani as candidate for Iraqi prime minister". PUK media. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
55. ^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
56. ^ "Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 2023. p. 6. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
57. ^ Numan, Haitham (27 September 2020). "Analyzing Journalist Perceptions of Democracy and State Corruption: The Case of Iraq". Arab Media & Society. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
58. ^ a b See (the referenced sources in) our article Press Freedom Index.
59. ^ a b "2022 World Press Freedom Index". Reporters Without Borders. 2022.
60. ^ "Iraq". Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
61. ^ a b Wille, Belkis (20 October 2020). "When Will Iraq Start Protecting Journalists?". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
62. ^ "Corruption seen as grave threat to Iraqi democracy". Reuters. 27 August 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
63. ^ a b Schöberlein, Jennifer (10 December 2020). "Iraq: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption". U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre. Transparency International. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
64. ^ a b "Iran's Trail Of Political And Economic Chaos: Part I – The Iraqi Experience". MEMRI. 1 September 2020.
65. ^ Tawfeeq, Mohammed (23 May 2021). "Iraq estimates that $150 billion of its oil money has been stolen from the country since the US-led invasion of 2003". CNN. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
66. ^ a b c "Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 for Iraq". Transparency.org. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
67. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 for Iraq". Transparency.org. Retrieved 8 March 2023.

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* Achaemenid Assyria
* Seleucid Babylonia
* Parthian Babylonia
* Sassanid Asorestan

|

638–1958|

* Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia
* Umayyad Caliphate
* Abbasid Caliphate
* Buyid dynasty
* Qara Qoyunlu
* Aq Qoyunlu
* Safavids
* Ottoman Iraq (incl. Mamluk dynasty)
* Mandate for Mesopotamia
* Mandatory Iraq
* Kingdom of Iraq
* Kings
* Arab Federation

Republic|

* 1958–1968
* 1968–2003
* 2003–2011
* 2011–present

* Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region (National Command)
* Saddam Hussein
* Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
* 1974–1975 Shatt al-Arab clashes
* 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq
* 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq
* Weapons of mass destruction
* Iran–Iraq War
* Operation Opera
* Invasion of Kuwait
* Gulf War
* 1991 uprisings
* Sanctions
* Iraq War
* U.S. invasion
* Iraqi insurgency
* U.S. troop withdrawal
* Insurgency (2011–2013)
* War (2014–2017)
* Fall of Mosul
* Mosul liberation
* Insurgency
* 2019–2021 protests
* 2021–2022 Iraqi political crisis

Geography

* Faw peninsula
* Upper Mesopotamia
* Lower Mesopotamia
* Borders
* Euphrates river
* Hamrin Mountains
* Iraqi Kurdistan
* Lakes
* Islands
* Mesopotamia
* Mesopotamian Marshes
* Persian Gulf
* Places
* Shatt al-Arab
* Syrian Desert
* Tigris river
* Umm Qasr
* Zagros Mountains
* Wildlife
* Sinjar Mountains

Politics

* Administrative divisions
* Constitution
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* Democracy
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* List
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* Wars and conflicts

Economy

* Banks
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Society

| Demographics|

* Iraqis
* Languages
* Mesopotamian Arabic
* Aramaic
* Kurdish
* Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialects
* Persian
* Minorities
* Armenians
* Assyrians
* Circassians
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* Marsh Arabs
* Persians
* Solluba
* Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman
* Jews
* Religion
* Secularism
* Islam
* Christianity
* Mandaeism
* Yazidis
* Irreligion

|

General|

* Art
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* Education
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* Public holidays
* Mesopotamian spring festival (Akitu)
* Mandaean New Year

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