A Century of State-Making in Iraq : Baghdad, Kurdistan, and the Development of the Constitution

As an interdisciplinary publication, this book will have a strong international appeal to those across the Middle East who are interested in the complex issues of state-building, democratic transitions and federalism.  It will also appeal to the many scholars in North America and Europe engaged in the study of these questions.  The search for just and stable constitutional arrangements has been a central feature of political debates in the region and, since the Arab Uprisings, political scientists around the world have focused their attention on changes in the region. Iraq is a fascinating case study of a state that emerged from the mandate system with political institutions derived from Western political ideas, but one where the application of those ideas reflected the historical circumstances and social realities of fragmented community life. 

Iraq’s political and constitutional problems have been fiercely debated since the Iraq war of 2003, with stuttering attempts to create a new constitutional settlement for Iraq.  This book seeks to place these debates in their wider historical and socio-political context and demonstrate how contemporary problems are rooted in Iraq’s political system, state-building processes and unique constitutional past. The volume examines different aspects of Iraq’s struggle to create a coherent state identity through political institutions that can accommodate diversity. This is a topical work with extensive primary-source-based empirical research, alongside the conceptual and theoretical insights offered. Its different approach will be valuable to a variety of audiences, ranging from scholars and students of international politics/relations and law, diplomatic history, and the Middle East, to policymakers and, indeed, beyond to a broader audience of informed non-specialist readers.