Print page Close window

European Centre for Research on Federalism, Tuebingen/Germany

Yearbook on Federalism 2006

Außereuropäische Länderberichte [Country reports outside Europe]

Föderalismus im neuen Irak

Guido Steinberg

pp. 463-479

After the overthrow of Saddam Husain's regime in 2003, the Kurds of Northern Iraq  who had controlled an autonomous zone since 1991  have tried to establish a federal system in Iraq. They have adopted this approach after the US and its Turkish ally in 2002 ruled out Kurdish independence as an acceptable outcome of regime change. Thus, the Kurds have chosen federalism as the second-best alternative. From 2003, the Kurdish parties, namely the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK, under the leadership of Jalal Talabani) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP, under the leadership of Masud Barzani) followed three principal aims: firstly, preserving the de-facto autonomy they had gained in 1991, involving control over the Kurdish provinces of Dahuk, Arbil and Sulaimaniya, including some Kurdish-dominated regions in neighbouring provinces, secondly, enlarging the Kurdish-controlled zone into all those neighbouring regions where Kurds form a majority, especially the city of Kirkuk, and thirdly, widening their influence on the central government in Iraq. In the course of the Iraqi federalism debate which was triggered by these Kurdish demands, different models were presented. Some called for a federal solution based on the existing 18 provinces, others favored a model of an Iraq divided into three or five regions. However, the Kurdish parties insisted on their model of ethnic federalism. Due to their position as the main U.S. ally in Iraq and as a consequence of their strong showing in the elections in January 2005, they were able to push through their main demands in the drafting process of a permanent constitution in summer 2005. However, the opponents to a federal solution, mainly the Sunni minority, the Shiite Sadr movement and the Shiite Dawa party gained strength after the parliamentary elections in December 2005. While federalism is probably the only concept preserving the territorial integrity of Iraq, its opponents will try to restrain Kurdish influence and autonomy in coming years. Therefore, whether the constitution of 2005 can serve as a basis of a future political settlement remains an open question. Iraq, the Kurds and the federalism experiment are bound for troubled waters.

Suggested citation for this article:
Steinberg, Guido 2006: Föderalismus im neuen Irak, in: Europäisches Zentrum für Föderalismus-Forschung (ed.): Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2006. Föderalismus, Subsidiarität und Regionen in Europa, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, p. 463-479.