Militia State Baria Alamuddin by Baria Alamuddin B0B1KLQX6Z instant download after payment.

As insecurity spread, towns and villages established their own emergency security forces - some loosely under the oversight of the Coalition. In Southern Iraq many of these ‘emergency regiments’ were raised by groups such as the Badr Corps and SCIRI, who were supported by Iran, and local groups like Iraqi Hezbollah. Coalition Provisional Authority decisions, de-Ba’athification and disbanding the Army, compounded the security problem and contributed to local support for or acquiescence in ‘militia’ dominance. Every political group had an armed wing, and as parties’ power was secured so too did militia strength grow. In later years, these groups penetrated state institutions, using politics, intimidation and coercion to entrench themselves. The threat of the Islamic State prompted in 2014 the biggest mobilisation to date: militia groups obtained state support and legitimacy, regardless of their domestic behaviour and external support.

Baria Alamuddin discusses the evolution of the Iraqi militias drawing from her recent book Militia State: The Rise of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi and the Eclipse of the Iraqi Nation State. She will argue that the militias have usurped the Iraqi-nation-state. She will focus on the Al-Hashd al-Shaabi with special emphasis on Iran’s influence on these groups, and its effect on Iraqi politics.