Manama: The military defeat of ISIS is only the first step toward resolving Iraq’s problems, claims an article in the latest issue of Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, according to IISS report.
In the journal, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Consulting Senior Fellow for the Middle East Toby Dodge argues that the long-term stabilisation of Iraq requires not only the defeat of ISIS, but also the resolution of the political issues that created the space in which the group has thrived.
According to the IISS expert, ISIS’s seizure of Mosul in June and its swift advance across a wide swath of Iraqi territory was not caused by a century-old legacy of Anglo-French colonialism. Instead, it was the direct result of contemporary flaws within the political system set up after the 2003 regime change.
In his article, Can Iraq Be Saved? Dodge identifies three distinct functions that are necessary for a sustainable state. These are: the state’s capacity to wield coercion and control the activities of its subjects, its infrastructural power and its ideological power.
All three of these functions showed signs of significant degradation during Nuri al-Maliki’s tenure as prime minister, according to Dodge. Not only did the seizure of Mosul by ISIS expose the weakness of the Iraqi army, but the other two pillars of state sustainability were also continually undermined over the course of his leadership.
New Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi now has an opportunity to implement significant reforms, declares dodge, but it will be no simple task.
“The replacement of Maliki with new Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has the potential to spur much-needed reform of the Iraqi state. However, Abadi will be required to do much more than create another government of national unity that includes a greater number of Sunni politicians.
“In order to neutralise the threat from ISIS, stabilise Iraq and create a sustainable future for the country, Abadi will not only have to reform the state but persuade the elite to change. This will require them to work towards unifying a society that they played a central role in dividing, and to exchange their corrupt, secretive approach to government for a style of leadership that is open and accountable.”