Iraq’s elite fixates on political posts while oil exports plummet, militias strike neighbors, and economic collapse accelerates.
Browsing: Sudani
Iraq’s caretaker government cannot control Iranian-backed militias attacking US interests. Washington’s strategy of strengthening the prime minister’s office has visibly failed.
Iraq’s complicity with Iran-backed militias during the current war demands a U.S. recalibration of security aid and targeted sanctions against Baghdad officials.
Iraq’s elections are a critical test of Iran’s diminished influence and the rivalry between Sudani and al-Maliki.
Sudani’s second-term bid faces rival Maliki, Iran’s preference for a weak premier, and recent militia clashes.
Sudani’s bloc won most seats, but Shia rivals and U.S.-Iran tensions complicate his path to a second term.
“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.”
“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 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 regional drive to disarm non-state actors has sparked a fierce sovereignty debate in Iraq. As Lebanon’s military secures its borders, Iraqi officials struggle to balance state-building goals against powerful militias that view their arsenals as non-negotiable shields against foreign occupation.