During a research trip to Iraq, Simon Schwenoha, junior researcher at the IFK, investigated the stabilization of the crisis-ridden country.
In view of the declaration of victory against the Islamic State terrorist militia and the parliamentary elections in May, politicians in Iraq announced a normalization of the country. In fact, both the recognition of the election results and the government formation process proved to be major challenges. Under these circumstances, Simon Schwenoha, junior researcher in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) team, flew to Iraq to talk to representatives of government institutions and think tanks about challenges and future developments in the field of federalism and parliamentarianism as well as the fate of Christians in Iraq. The first stop on the two-week research trip was the Kurdish capital Erbil, which focused on the failed independence referendum. The interlocutors at the Middle East Research Institute shared the opinion that federalism in Iraq represents the greatest opportunity for peace and reconciliation between the individual population groups. According to the experts, secession from Iraq would significantly worsen Kurdistan’s economic situation.
Simon Schwenoha made his second stopover in Baghdad and held talks on the annulled election result and the resulting challenges in forming a government. The representatives of the Supreme Court assured him that despite the tough election process and the struggle between pro-Iranian and pro-Western parties, a compromise would be reached that would ultimately strengthen the trust in the democratic system that had been damaged so far. Other interlocutors emphasized that Iraq’s cohesion could be guaranteed despite the Kurdish independence referendum. The government in Baghdad thus demonstrated Iraq’s stability to the international community, not least in order to receive urgently needed investment and reconstruction aid from abroad.
