“The theocracy is rotting from within. It has become a tighter and tighter inner circle around the supreme leader that has detained and discredited many of its own kind in order to survive. The odds are not in its favor.”

“Sistani has occupied a central place in Iraqi Shi‘a politics, revered by all parties as a higher moral guide… By more clearly siding with the protestors, Sistani made one of his boldest moves yet, the outcome of which may determine the balance of power.”

“Shiism in Iraq is being subjected to internal contestation… It is torn between two contradictory impulses—its self-designation as a revolutionary force driven by the example of Hussein, and its newer role as a status quo doctrine, employed by Iraq’s ruling Shia oligarchy.”

“Sadr has managed to build and protect his religious power by maintaining a plurality of religious associations, benefiting from the legitimation of senior clerics while ensuring no single religious authority can rival his own within the Sadrist movement.

“Understanding Sadr’s authority primarily in religious, rather than political, terms can help here. The Sadrist base is not bound to its leader merely by transactional exchanges for material benefits, or by rationalist calculations about political utility or particular ideologies.”

“Why did Saddam sacrifice his long run in power, his regime, and ultimately his life for weapons he did not possess? My goal was to humanize Saddam without sanitizing him so that we could better understand how he acted.”

“The main hinderances to the project’s success are the difficulty of securing sustainable funding for such a megaproject and rampant inefficiency and corruption in Iraqi state institutions. The potential for insecurity and instability may discourage investors in the Development Road.”

“Iraq will have to find a place for itself in the midst of regional geoeconomic and geopolitical rivalries, as competing trade connectivity projects are being put forward. These include China’s BRI, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and Iran’s trade ambitions.”

Iraq remains caught in a reactive cycle, struggling to balance relations between Washington and Tehran. Despite ambitious infrastructure projects, the state’s lack of control over armed factions prevents it from evolving from a regional battlefield into a stable, sovereign economic hub.

The PMF is trading its revolutionary doctrine for a strategy centered on financial power and political protection. By exploiting fears of regional instability, the organization is consolidating control over state resources and patronage networks to prevent its dissolution or military integration.