Iraq: Politics, Elections, and Benchmarks

Abstract

Iraq's political system, the result of a U.S.-supported election process, is increasingly characterized by peaceful competition rather than violence, but sectarianism and ethnic and factional infighting have not been fully resolved. Some believe that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, strengthened politically by the January 31, 2009, provincial elections, is increasingly authoritarian, in part to ensure that he holds power after the planned January 16, 2010, national elections. Maliki is widely assessed as gaining control of the security services and building new security organs loyal to him personally. He has also formed cross-sectarian alliances with a wide range of Sunni and Kurdish factions, to counter a new coalition formed in late August by his erstwhile Shiite allies. Perhaps because of the approaching elections, Maliki has not been able to forge national consensus on key outstanding legislation considered crucial to political comity going forward, such as national hydrocarbon laws.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 21, 2009
Accession Number
ADA511456

Entities

People

  • Kenneth Katzman

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Congress
  • Elections
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Governments
  • Intellectual Property
  • Kurds
  • Law
  • Minority Groups
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Sectarian Violence
  • Security
  • Terrorists
  • United States

Readers

  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.