Title

Iraq's Descent into Civil War: A Constitutional Explanation

Abstract

In the summer of 2014, the Iraqi government lost control of much of the country. Insurgents - including the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), former Ba'thists, and an array of Sunni tribes - captured Mosul, and then much of western Iraq. Although complex factors lay behind these developments, this article focuses on one theme of central importance: attempts to consolidate power in Baghdad and the concomitant evisceration of Iraq's constitution. When key provisions of a very decentralizing federal constitution were ignored or violated, the blowback from disenfranchised groups in Iraq brought the country to the brink of collapse.

Department(s)

Political Science

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3751/68.4.13

Publication Date

2014

Journal Title

The Middle East Journal

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