Iraq: Anatomy of a Broken State

Aimen's in the thick of it this week so isn't able to appear on the show. Sitting in for him is Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli researcher and analyst, and a doctoral student at Princeton University. During field research in Iraq in 2023, she was kidnapped by Kata'ib Hezbollah and held in captivity for over two years, suffering torture and solitary confinement.

In what we hope will be the first of many appearances on Conflicted, Elizabeth discusses:

Saddam Hussein’s faith campaign and the rise of Shia religious politics in Iraq

The Sadrist movement in Iraq and Muqtada al-Sadr

The politicisation of sectarian identity in post-2003 Iraq

Iraqi militias as criminal-political enterprises engaged in in theft, extortion, oil smuggling, and dollar smuggling

The difference between Iraqi militias and Lebanese Hezbollah

The impact of militia rule on ordinary civilian life

Iraq’s extreme inequality despite its oil and gas wealth

The 2003 Iraq War and the debate over American responsibility

Iraqi elite agency and the failures of Iraq’s political class

The 2010 Iraqi election crisis and Nouri al-Maliki’s return to power

The Iraqi constitution and the failure of constitutional democracy

Iraq’s dependence on oil revenues and the Strait of Hormuz

The impact of the current Iran war on Iraq’s economy

Iranian attacks on Iraqi oil exports and oil tankers

The U.S. military presence in Iraq after ISIS

American influence over Iraqi prime ministerial politics

Nouri al-Maliki, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Ali al-Zaidi

Fa’iq Zaidan and the power of Iraq’s judiciary

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices