Reconstruction of Iraq: underlying logic and role of foreign actors

The CSDS Director Vladimir Bartenev opened the workshop panel. He pointed out the general concept of the event and presented briefly his results of comparison of two major international forums for Iraq’s reconstruction fund raising: The Madrid Conference of 2003, which took place six months after overthrow of the Saddam Hussein’s regime, and the Kuwait Conference, which took place in February 2018 shortly after the official declaration of victory over the Islamic State (Daesh is banned in Russia as a terrorist organization).

Director of the CAIS Vasiliy Kuznetsov underlined the importance of close analysis of internal situation in Iraq and the state of affairs in the region for right evaluation of the international involvement prospects in reconstruction of the state. He also emphasized the problem of securing of legitimate violence monopoly in Iraq and its independence from the government.

During the first section of the workshop panel, Program Coordinator of the Russian International Affairs Council Ruslan Mamedov and columnist of the “Kommersant” publishing house Marianna Belenkaya presented analysis of the current domestic political situation in Iraq and the results of the parliamentary elections in May 2018.

Second section was about the evaluation of problems and prospects of involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq by traditional donors – state-members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee and international organizations dominated by them – and by non-traditional donors with emphasis on regional actors.

Vladimir Bartenev opened the section with his analysis on the US foreign assistance to Iraq after Operation of Iraqi Freedom (2003) to the announcement of military defeat of Daesh in 2017. The case of Iraq has been playing different roles and taking different places in the policies of the three US administrations George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The expert gave his thoughts on the reluctance of the Trump White House to give grants and loans for the post-Daesh reconstruction to the Iraqi government.

The CSDS Research Fellow Lida Oganisyan pointed out the significance of stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq in the European Union’s new strategy (2018). The EU has intensified its efforts to support the Iraqi government in overcoming instability and restoring the state.

The CSDS Research Fellow Oxana Popova touched on an issue of military involvement of Germany in the global coalition against Daesh and examined aspects of humanitarian aid for the Iraqi refugees on the German territory and Syrian refugees on the Iraqi territory.

The CSDS Research Fellow Alexey Solomatin presented an analysis of the role of World Bank, one of the key sponsors of the Kuwait conference in February 2018, in the Iraq’s reconstruction.

Senior Research Associate at the Center for Middle East Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS Vladimir Sazhin shared his view on a policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region after the intervention of the USA and its allies in Iraq in 2003. The CSDS Research Fellow Luiza Khlebnikova in her report spoke about Iran’s role in the struggle against Daesh in Iraq which helped Tehran to strengthen its positions in the state. The CSDS Research Fellow Altunay Aliyeva made a presentation on the involvement of the Republic of Turkey in forthcoming post-conflict (or post-Daesh) reconstruction of Iraq. Turkey made the biggest financial commitment (5 bln dollars) to Iraq’s reconstruction on the Kuwait conference.

Moderators of the event, Vladimir Bartenev and Vasiliy Kuznetsov, made conclusions about the key issues for the scientific project – correlation of internal and external determinants in the processes of strengthening state resilience in the Middle East and North Africa. Participants of the workshop also made an agreement to keep observing political developments in Iraq and in the region as a part of monitoring processes of political transformations in the MENA region.

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