Iraq as a Frontline: Militias and the Risks to Iraq’s Stability in a Regional War

About the Event

Since the onset of the US-Israel-Iran war on February 28, Iraq has become a central front in the conflict. This has occurred primarily as a result of attacks by Shia militant groups targeting a wide range of sites, including US military and diplomatic facilities across the country; Kurdish civilian, military, and energy infrastructure; Iranian Kurdish opposition groups; European forces; Iraqi security and intelligence institutions; and even targets in neighboring countries. Based on media reporting, around 500 such attacks have been launched so far, mostly by Shia armed factions, and in some cases directly by Iran itself.

What further complicates the picture is that many of the armed factions carrying out these attacks are known to form core components of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a formal Iraqi security institution funded and armed by the state. This raises serious questions about why these groups are engaging in such actions and effectively dragging Iraq into a war it has not decided to join. It also brings into focus the nature of the relationship between these militias and the Iraqi state, the prospects and challenges of security sector reform, Iraq’s future relations with the United States and its neighbors, and the domestic political implications—particularly given that key domestic actors and institutions have been on the receiving end of such attacks. Joining moderator Mohammed A. Salih will be Yerevan Saeed, Barzani Scholar-in-Residence at American University's School of International Service, and Phillip Smyth, an expert in Shia militia groups and Iranian external operations, to discuss Iraq as a frontline.

Speakers