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No exit for Iraq without decentralization

Iraq’s failure to abide by its constitution, which stipulates federalism with greater powers for provinces, is part of the reason why it is in turmoil today.

Iraqi federal police salute during the seventh anniversary of the founding of the federal police in Baghdad November 22, 2011. With U.S. troops scheduled to leave Iraq at the end of the year, Baghdad is looking to build its national armed forces to take over responsibility for security. REUTERS/Saad Shalash (IRAQ - Tags : - Tags: CONFLICT) - RTR2UBMY
Iraqi federal police salute during the seventh anniversary of the founding of the federal police in Baghdad, Nov. 22, 2011. — REUTERS/Saad Shalash

One cannot say that the denial of the decentralization principle by Iraq’s political circle, as a philosophy upon which the Iraqi Constitution is based, led to all of the political and security failures that Iraq is seeing today. Yet, the previous government’s experiment, which was built upon reconsidering the constitution in a way that supports “the state’s centralization” has undoubtedly contributed to this fall. The new government has the difficult task of redefining the state in accordance with the framework of the Iraqi Constitution.

The government, headed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, has found itself facing an extremely similar situation as the previous government in the way the state is characterized. This situation is supported by an administrative and political class that has reached key decision-making posts, and still believes that Iraq can only be governed through a strong unitary system of government that resembles the existing form of government in most Middle Eastern countries.

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