Political instability in Iraq: to what extent is ethnofederalism responsible?
By: Jalal H. Mistaffa
[email protected] [email protected] Writing-up stage 01/05/2015
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2 Source: http://thomaspmbarnett.com/globlogization/2010/5/21/the-middle-east-after-iraq.html
‘The future of Iraq as a nation state is in question as never before.’ (The Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons/UK - Eighth Report of Session 2014–15) The question is WHY?
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To answer the WHY, some think: Iraq became a formally federal state in 2005, some academics state that this sort of political instability is expected in an ethnofederation (Makiya, 2003: 9; Dawisha, 2004: 16; Byman, 2003: 58, Wimmer, 2003: 124, Younis, 2011: 8). It may be argued that Iraq, although politically was frequently unstable since 1921, has never experienced such high secessionist tendencies. The growth of these tendencies, in Iraq, was because of federalism, in its ethnofederal form.
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What is ethnofederalism? Hale (2004: 167) defines ethnofederations: ‘a federal state in which at least one constituent territorial governance unit is intentionally associated with a specific ethnic category.’
Accordingly, Iraq is an ethnofederation because of the existence of Kurdistan Region that is the homeland of Kurds concentrated in this area and constitute around 95% of the overall region’ population. This political entity, Kurdistan Region, is formally recognised by the Iraqi constitution.
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KRG’s original territory The rest of Iraq 01/05/2015
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How does ethnofederalism cause political instability? Ethnofederalism, accordingly to the critics: • Institutionalises antagonistic minority identities • Institutionalises grievances • Empowers the minorities, such as Kurds, and equip them with the formal institutions that makes them capable of stepping towards partition.
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In defence of ethnofederalism Chapter one: a theoretical frame of federalism and ethnofederalism Chapter two: theories of ethnicity and ethnic conflict implemented on Iraq Chapter three: ethnofederal Iraq (in defence of ethnofederalism) The contribution of ethnofederalism in the relative stability of relationships between the central government and the Kurdistan Region Government –KRG Past experiences of ethnic based autonomy and political stability Chapter four: Key definitions (political instability, historical institutionalism, legitimacy, briefly presenting the alternative explanations to the existing political instability in Iraq Chapter five: The first alternative is the insufficient legitimacy of building the federal Iraq Chapter six: The second alternative A is the deficiencies found in the processes that led to the adoption of these current institutions characterised mainly by the exclusion of a significant segment in Iraq, the Sunni Arabs Chapter seven: The second alternative B is the deficiencies found in the structure of some major institutions in addition to the problem of insufficient ethnofederalism 01/05/2015
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Methodology This thesis utilises both quantitative and qualitative methods (triangulation in some subjects) Interviews with political leaders and MPs in Iraq were conducted between
August and October 2013. Analysing formal (constitution and laws) and historical archival documents
(from British National Archives and newspapers) In terms of quantitative methods, two datasets will be investigated in an
attempt to solidify the findings. These two datasets are surveys conducted in
Iraq byWorldValue Survey in 2004 and 2006. 10
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