Can Iraq escape state failure?

This research proposal, submitted by Tareq Ismael to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada shortly before his death in October 2024, describes a research agenda intended to assess the prospects for Iraq avoiding the failure of its democratic institutions. The plan focuses on the duality of decision-making between the formal, public constitutional institutions and informal channels of communication, both dominated by leaders of the country’s ethnic and sectional religious communities. Through interviews with current and former Iraqi elites and knowledgeable informants and by analysing the dynamics of decision-making in five key policy sectors understood to be prone to sectarianism and corruption, the research was directed towards determining whether Iraq is headed towards failure of its state institutions.