If Iraq is successfully to democratize and an inclusive democratic culture is to emerge, the Iraqi state must be reconstituted as a federal and strongly liberal system and thoroughly demilitarized.
About the Author
Kanan Makiyais senior fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, where he is emeritus professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. His books include Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq (1989) and Fi Al-Qaswa [On Cruelty] (in Arabic, 2021).
Whether ethnic, sectarian, or some combination of the two, communalsim is one of the massive realities of Middle Eastern life and politics. It is usually seen as an obstacle to…
In an exchange of letters, leading Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya discusses with Vaclav Havel the lessons that the Czechoslovak experience offers to Cubans seeking a democratic transition in thier own…
