Working Paper: Iraqi-Kurdistan; a Model for Iraq?

Working Paper: Iraqi-Kurdistan; a Model for Iraq?

Posted in Iraq | 21-Jan-07 | Author: Thomas von der Osten-Sacken an| Source: wadi

Presented to the Aspen Conference: Greater Middle East in Doha, Qatar March 23rd – March 25th 2006,

Almost three years after the toppling of Saddam’s Regime, Iraq seems closer to a full-fledged civil war than to becoming the federal democracy that many Iraqis have longed for since the liberation of their country (International Crisis Group, 2006). Outside Iraq, and even in countries that did not initially oppose the war, the widespread notion is that Iraq is a lost cause, and that the idea of transforming a totalitarian dictatorship into a democracy by military force has failed. This paper discusses the transition process in Iraqi-Kurdistan - a part of Iraq with a certain economical development, where an embryonic civil society takes root and where the overwhelming majority of people supported the forceful removal of Saddam’s Regime.

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