The Nature of National Security and Government in Iraq

The factors that shape the quality and quantity of Iraq’s security and political equations today can be examined in terms of priority on a trifold scale- internal, regional and trans- regional-respectively. Given that the internal level is the first and foremost level that forms the social and political life in any country, especially if we take it that the internal factors cause crises to occur and continue, it must be admitted that the regional and trans-regional factors play a role in escalating and facilitating the crises as well as sustaining them. On this basis, the main question in this article is “What factors contribute to the formation of the state of continuing insecurity and instability in Iraq?”The hypothesis set forward in answering to this question is that the social and demographical context of Iraq has led to the formation and continuance of the triple crises- identity, state, and security- which are formed in a mutual relation, and provide for intervention from foreign factors (as factors that escalate and facilitate insecurity and instability). Therefore, the present article tests this hypothesis using an explanative-causal method with a historical and process-based perspective. Also, it found out that Iraq’s socialpolitical context contributed to the formation of three crises- identity, crisis and state, where state has failed to accomplish the major function- namely the security crisis- as the main authority responsible for creating security.