Marsin Alshamary on Iraq’s Struggle for Democracy

The thing that really astonishes me is that there's never any agency given to Iraqis, both during the war and the occupation, but also 20 years later. It always goes back to what the Americans did. There's a defeatism about Iraq's ability to do anything on its own and I think that's at the heart of why people can't see anything democratic in the country.Marsin AlshamaryAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Marsin Alshamary is a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative and nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy. She is the author of the paper "Iraq’s Struggle for Democracy" in the Journal of Democracy.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:41Is Iraq a Democracy - 3:37Iraqi Social Cleavages - 9:20Iraqi Consociationalism - 26:33Challenges to Democracy in Iraq - 36:55Key Links"Iraq’s Struggle for Democracy" in the Journal Democracy by Marsin AlshamaryFollow Marsin Alshamary on Twitter @MarsinRALearn more about Marsin AlshamaryDemocracy Paradox PodcastSteven Simon on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East including Iran and the Wars in IraqLarry Diamond on Supporting Democracy in the World and at HomeMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracyDemocracy Paradox is part of the Amazon Affiliates Program and earns commissions on items purchased from links to the Amazon website. All links are to recommended books discussed in the podcast or referenced in the blog.Learn more about the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at https://kellogg.nd.edu/ Support the Show.