Abstract In an effort to situate Ali al-Wardi’s larger body of scholarship, this article places him within his Iraqi and international intellectual milieu, highlighting the role of his book Preachers of the Sultan for its grounding of his later works, while at the same time asserting the seriousness with which he took the scholar’s role as an activist to bring knowledge to the
Read MoreYouths in Iraq dream of leaving the country. The successive wars since 1980 and in particular the violence that has been part of daily life in Iraq since 2003 have caused waves of emigration over the years. Iraqis have lived through many conflicts over the last few decades: the IranIraq war of 198088, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent embargo and war, fo
Read MoreDownload PDF Introduction Anthropologists believe that Man is the only creature capable of rational behaviour because he has a mind with which to think, a language with which to express himself and a hand with which to produce his daily needs. These elements make him a rational human being; different from other living creatures. In Western philosophy, the word ‘reason’ is de
Read MoreThe Kurds may be leveraging recent arms agreements to achieve a more direct security relationship with Western powers on the road toward de facto autonomy. When US defence officials want to give a compliment to a junior military partner they will often use the phrase "Little Sparta", referring to the ancient Greek city state revered for its small but potent army. Most recently
Read MoreAn examination of allegations that the Obama administration’s failure to secure a long-term U.S troop presence in Iraq after 2011 was the "original sin" that led to the ascendance of ISIS. The meteoric rise of ISIS has justifiably spurred an examination of what U.S. policies might have led to a less dire outcome in territories now controlled by the group. One common focus is t
Read More