{"title":"The Iraq Invasion at Twenty: Iraq’s Mafia State","authors":"Kanan Makiya","doi":"10.1353/jod.2023.0022","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:How should one characterize the U.S. war of 2003? Was it a “liberation” of millions of people from tyranny, or a much hated “occupation”? This essay reflects on how the Interim Governing Council (IGC)—formed following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein—conflated “democracy” with “representation” based on muhassasa (the practice of filling key government posts by “consensus” of the major-party bosses, using sectarian or ethnic criteria). This arrangement of the IGC proved ripe for corruption. Post-2003, identity politics continued to shape the outlook of Iraq‘s political elite, but today a new generation has begun making itself heard. This generation believes in Iraq as a nation and understands democracy as more than a source of spoils to be divided among groups.","PeriodicalId":48227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Democracy","volume":"34 1","pages":"120 - 134"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Democracy","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2023.0022","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"POLITICAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:How should one characterize the U.S. war of 2003? Was it a “liberation” of millions of people from tyranny, or a much hated “occupation”? This essay reflects on how the Interim Governing Council (IGC)—formed following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein—conflated “democracy” with “representation” based on muhassasa (the practice of filling key government posts by “consensus” of the major-party bosses, using sectarian or ethnic criteria). This arrangement of the IGC proved ripe for corruption. Post-2003, identity politics continued to shape the outlook of Iraq‘s political elite, but today a new generation has begun making itself heard. This generation believes in Iraq as a nation and understands democracy as more than a source of spoils to be divided among groups.
期刊介绍:
Since its inception in 1990, the Journal of Democracy has become an influential international forum for scholarly analysis and competing democratic viewpoints. Its articles have been cited in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and widely reprinted in many languages. Focusing exclusively on democracy, the Journal monitors and analyzes democratic regimes and movements in scores of countries around the world. Each issue features a unique blend of scholarly analysis, reports from democratic activists, updates on news and elections, and reviews of important recent books.