Abstract This paper aims, on the one hand, to investigate the impact of corruption on economic diversification in 11 oil-abundant Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries and three successful diversifiers (Canada, Norway, and Malaysia) over the period 1996-2019. This is done using the Arellano-Bond difference Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator that is effective
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BAGHDAD — Eighteen years after the U.S. invasion that deposed Saddam Hussein, Iraq offers a long, painful story about the limits of American power. But Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will visit the White House this month to urge President Biden to keep trying — by maintaining a U.S. military commitment to a country that straddles the fault lines of the Middle East. Kadhim
Read MorePolitically sanctioned corruption and barriers to reform in Iraq. By Toby Dodge and Dr Renad Mansour
Politically sanctioned corruption and barriers to reform in Iraq. By Toby Dodge and Dr Renad Mansour This paper explores the pernicious effects of politically sanctioned corruption on governance in Iraq. This type of corruption is more consequential for the coherence of the state, and for its everyday functioning, than petty or personal corruption. It is the key barrier to r
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The public sector in Iraq accounts for the majority of employment in the oil-rich country. Plummeting oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in economic crisis and an ever increasing budget deficit. Where there is crisis however, there is opportunity: will 2021 bring a much needed reform of the public sector in Iraq? When the Iraq anti-government protests erupted
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With the approach of Iraq’s next parliamentary elections in October 2021, pro-reform candidates are facing troubling obstacles as they prepare to compete against the country’s establishment parties, which include armed militias that have dominated Iraq’s parliament since 2018. To ensure a fair electoral playing field, reformers are asking the international community to quickly
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