Syria’s post-Assad stability depends on rules-based governance and accountable institutions, not just institutional survival or national elections.
Browsing: Governance
When water arrives by tanker instead of taps, scarcity becomes a daily humiliation that accelerates protest mobilization. This crisis is compounded by a “water mafia” of contractors and security-linked firms that profit from destructive infrastructure while governance fails.
Maliki’s return risks reviving Iraq’s cycle of polarization and instability, undermining fragile progress.
Budget allocations for agriculture, water, and environment ministries remain minimal, stalling climate adaptation projects. Iraq’s regulatory framework shows some transparency but lacks accountability mechanisms and disaster‑risk planning, limiting effective implementation of its decarbonization and resilience goals amid rising climate vulnerability.
The arrangement, involving swapped fuel and unpaid debt, bypassed institutional oversight, sustaining both governments without reform. This pattern of personalized, elite-driven cooperation mirrors their sectarian power-sharing systems and deepens mutual vulnerability.