INVESTING IN IRAQ’S PEACE

High levels of disillusionment combined
with high levels of engagement make for a
combustible political environment.
from the first poll conducted in 2013. Yet even though the majority of citizens feel powerless in the current system,
a large number of Iraqis still believe it is their civic responsibility to be involved in politics, with an increase over
time (68 percent in 2015 – up from 60 percent in 2014 and 57 percent in 2013). Though Iraqis are becoming
increasingly disillusioned with government, a growing number are finding it important to engage in politics and
are less fearful of doing so. See Figure 4A and 4B.
High levels of disillusionment combined with high levels of engagement make for a combustible political environment.
The energy unleashed by the protests will be channeled somewhere. Some disillusioned youth may, like many of their
peers, emigrate, seeking a better life in Europe or the United States. Some may simply carry on in Basra, Baghdad, or
Kirkuk. But there is the risk that peaceful protests, failing to gain to traction, will evolve into something more volatile.
This is perhaps the most dangerous risk: that aggrieved Shia youth may make common cause with increasingly
influential sectarian militias. Some protest leaders are already beginning to say it is impossible to work with
parliament. The system is broken, they say. Better to scrap it and start over. If peaceful approaches to create
change go unheeded, many fear the country’s aggrieved youth could make common cause with the increasingly
influential Shia militias.
Investing in Iraq’s Peace | MERCY CORPS 21