State-building and Ethnic Pluralism in Iraq after 2003

Abstract

The research article deals with the process of building or rebuilding the state in Iraq after 2003 in its various dimensions, in light of the vision and foundational procedures that were developed and supervised by the United States in cooperation with the new leaders of Iraq based on the mechanism of sectarianethnic representation, and diagnosing the imbalances that arose out of that vision and the accompanying procedures, which led to the emergence of new variables in the political process, especially in the post-ISIS* phase, which produced important challenges to the political system and the Iraqi state. The political dynamics and balances emerging after ISIS* represented at the same time opportunities and risks in the process of building the Iraqi state, as opportunities arose to transcend the identity policies adopted by the political system, and address the failures of the political process, and thus strengthen the path of state building, but the risks of those transformations seeking reform may push towards more state fragility, given the weakness of the political administration of the system in the face of the complexities of the political environment and its effects that were rooted in the p olitical system.