Publications

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The political situation in Iraq is highly dynamic. After the military defeat of the so-called Islamic State (IS) as a shared effort by the Global Coalition against Daesh in late 2017, parliamentary elections on 12 May 2018 are a chance for overhauling political agendas. With explicit policy recommendations, BICC Policy Brief 4\2018 addresses the German government and calls for a conflict-sensitive approach, which reflects structural conflict layers and local conditions as requirements for conflict resolution.
In light of new mandates of NATO, the European Union as well as Germany on military presence and the stabilization of Iraq, the authors Carina Schlüsing and Katja Mielke argue that the German government and its international partners ought to focus on triggering political reforms and include knowledge about structural conflict layers and local ideas for their resolution into responsible and integrative policymaking, instead of fostering military measures in the overall highly volatile environment– in Iraq and the Middle East.
Based on observations and interviews that the BICC researchers were able to collect during their recent stay in northern Iraq, they conclude that the German government can, in the long term, strategically influence the constructive transformation of conflicts by reducing its military commitment and expanding diplomatic and civilian measures.