- Toby Dodge teaches in the International Relations Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science:... moreToby Dodge teaches in the International Relations Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science: http://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/people/toby-dodgeHe is also Principle Investigator on the three year project ‘Managing Religious Diversity in the Middle East: The Muhasasa Ta'ifia in Iraq, 2003–2018’, http://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/research/muhasasa-taifiaHe is the Research Director for Iraq, in the Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science: http://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/research/Conflict-Research-Programme. His main areas of research include the comparative politics and historical sociology of the Middle East, the politics of intervention, the evolution of the Iraqi state, state-society dynamics and political identities in Iraq. His publications include Inventing Iraq: The failure of nation building and a history denied (2003), Iraq's Future: The Aftermath of Regime Change (2005), Iraq: From War to a New Authoritarianism (2013) and four edited volumes.edit
This paper uses Iraq as a case study to answer the research question, how do consociational settlements impact the state? Firstly, the paper argues that consociationalism, at best, has an under-theorized conception of the state,... more
This paper uses Iraq as a case study to answer the research question, how do consociational settlements impact the state? Firstly, the paper argues that consociationalism, at best, has an under-theorized conception of the state, implicitly defaulting to an unexamined neo-Weberian model. The paper then surveys state theory and finds that key works on the state in the Middle East are vulnerable to the postcolonial critique of Eurocentrism. To overcome this, the paper deploys the works of Mann, Jessop, and Bourdieu to develop a universal model of the state, disaggregating the state, conceiving of it as a series of competitive fields, bureaucratic, political, coercive, and economic. The paper then uses this model to assess how a consociational political settlement impacts upon the state. Deploying a disaggregated model of the state, the paper argues that Iraq's consociational settlement shifted the balance of power in the bureaucratic field away from any autonomous power or centralized coherence that the institutions and the civil service possessed toward the political parties empowered by the consociational system. After being empowered by the informal consociational settlement, it is the political parties who now dominate the system for their own ends.
This paper examines Fred Halliday’s research and writing on the politics of the Middle East. It classifies Halliday as a ‘high modernist’, who organised his work around a constant commitment to a universal rationality, historical progress... more
This paper examines Fred Halliday’s research and writing on the politics of the Middle East. It classifies Halliday as a ‘high modernist’, who organised his work around a constant commitment to a universal rationality, historical progress and an opposition to relativism and a particularist reading of the Middle East. The paper identifies the two dominant units of analysis that shaped Halliday’s work on the region throughout his life. These were the transformative capacity of capitalism and the role of a comparatively autonomous state. The paper then examines how the content of each unit was transformed as Halliday moved from an overt Marxism to a more diffuse liberalism. It then goes on to argue that Halliday’s ideological affinities and his deployment of these units marginalized the role and importance of ideology, specifically both nationalism and Islamism. Finally, it traces the influence of this approach and the deployment of these units in Halliday’s work on Iran, Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Iraq’s political system, an elite pact justified through ethno-religious consociationalism or sectarian apportionment (Muhasasa Ta’ifiyya), was created in the aftermath of invasion and regime change in 2003. The system’s legitimation was... more
Iraq’s political system, an elite pact justified through
ethno-religious consociationalism or sectarian apportionment
(Muhasasa Ta’ifiyya), was created in the aftermath of invasion and
regime change in 2003. The system’s legitimation was based on a
very specific understanding of Iraqi society and the role of elections
in managing that society. However, this system did not prevent the
brutal civil war that raged in Iraq from 2004 until 2008. Once the
civil war ended and communally justified violence declined, other
negative consequences of the system became increasingly apparent,
namely the widespread and systematically sanctioned political
corruption at its core and the institutional incoherence the system
created. A sustained post-civil war challenge to the system has
come through a series of mass demonstrations, starting in 2009,
but reaching their peak, in terms of size and ideational coherence, in
2019. In the face of its unpopularity, the majority of Iraq’s
politicians may have moved away from the overt promotion of
sectarianism, but the political system still functions, as it has since
2003, with systemic corruption and coercion taking the place of
sectarian ideology in terms of delivering elite cohesion and
defending the status quo.
ethno-religious consociationalism or sectarian apportionment
(Muhasasa Ta’ifiyya), was created in the aftermath of invasion and
regime change in 2003. The system’s legitimation was based on a
very specific understanding of Iraqi society and the role of elections
in managing that society. However, this system did not prevent the
brutal civil war that raged in Iraq from 2004 until 2008. Once the
civil war ended and communally justified violence declined, other
negative consequences of the system became increasingly apparent,
namely the widespread and systematically sanctioned political
corruption at its core and the institutional incoherence the system
created. A sustained post-civil war challenge to the system has
come through a series of mass demonstrations, starting in 2009,
but reaching their peak, in terms of size and ideational coherence, in
2019. In the face of its unpopularity, the majority of Iraq’s
politicians may have moved away from the overt promotion of
sectarianism, but the political system still functions, as it has since
2003, with systemic corruption and coercion taking the place of
sectarian ideology in terms of delivering elite cohesion and
defending the status quo.
This paper examines ethno-symbolic and instrumental explanations of ethnic and sectarian identities placed within the constructivist turn in the study of political identity, both in the abstract and how they have been deployed to explain... more
This paper examines ethno-symbolic and instrumental explanations of ethnic and sectarian identities placed within the constructivist turn in the study of political identity, both in the abstract and how they have been deployed to explain the increasing contemporary influence of ethno-sectarian mobilisation in Iraq and the wider Middle East. The paper identifies explanatory value in these approaches but finds their focus on either ideational structures or individual rationality too narrow to provide a comprehensive explanation of what happened to political identities in Iraq after 2003. Instead, the paper deploys what can be termed a ‘Bourdieusian method’, in an attempt to get beyond the polarities of structure and agency. It uses Bourdieu’s conceptions of political field, principles of vision and division and symbolic violence to understand the influence that de-Ba’athification, the creation of the Muhasasa Ta’ifia or sectarian apportionment system and national elections had on political identities in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.
Toby Dodge, 'Understanding the role of al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq's national and transnational political field', POMEPS Studies 37: Challenges to the Middle East North Africa Inclusionary State, February, 2020, [open access]... more
Toby Dodge, 'Understanding the role of al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq's national and transnational political field', POMEPS Studies 37: Challenges to the Middle East North Africa Inclusionary State, February, 2020, [open access] https://pomeps.org/understanding-the-role-of-al-hashd-al-shaabi-in-iraqs-national-and-transnational-political-field
The central thesis of this paper is that when faced with state collapse, rising violence and a complex stabilisation effort, the US, UN and NATO in Afghanistan and the US and Britain in Iraq, deployed the dominant, if not only,... more
The central thesis of this paper is that when faced with state collapse, rising violence and a complex stabilisation effort, the US, UN and NATO in Afghanistan and the US and Britain in Iraq, deployed the dominant, if not only, international approach available, Liberal Peacebuilding. The paper traces the rise of Liberal Peacebuilding across the 1990s. It argues that four units of analysis within neo-liberal ideology, the individual, the market, the role of the state and democracy, played a key role within Liberal Peacebuilding, allowing it to identify problems and propose solutions to stabilise post-conflict societies. It was these four units of analysis that were taken from the Liberal Peacebuilding approach and applied in Afghanistan and Iraq. The application of a universal template to two very different countries led directly to the fierce but weak states that exist today.
This paper critiques the primordial and ethnosymbolic theories of identity that have come to dominate explanations of Iraq's descent into violent instability after the 2003 invasion. It argues that Iraq's contemporary politics can only be... more
This paper critiques the primordial and ethnosymbolic theories of identity that have come to dominate explanations of Iraq's descent into violent instability after the 2003 invasion. It argues that Iraq's contemporary politics can only be understood by examining its history over the longue durée not the past fifteen years. The paper critically interacts with modernist theories of nationalism and their relevance to explaining identities in the Middle East. It then deploys the work of Pierre Bourdieu, specifically his notion of field and capital, to explain the relationship between four 'principles of visions' that have competed to dominate Iraq's political field.
Ever since US troops arrived in Baghdad on April 9, 2003, Iraqi society has been dominated by a profound security vacuum. The opportunities provided by the collapse of the state and the disbanding of the Iraqi army were seized upon by a... more
Ever since US troops arrived in Baghdad on April 9, 2003, Iraqi society has been dominated by a profound security vacuum. The opportunities provided by the collapse of the state and the disbanding of the Iraqi army were seized upon by a myriad of groups deploying ...
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... Arab trade amounts to less that 10 per cent of the regions trade as a ... The state funnelled a proportion of its new resources into a social-security system, new ... deploying oil rents, domestic repression and international... more
... Arab trade amounts to less that 10 per cent of the regions trade as a ... The state funnelled a proportion of its new resources into a social-security system, new ... deploying oil rents, domestic repression and international diplomacy, Arab regimes deflected the neo-liberal demands of ...
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... His younger son and heir apparent, Qusay, has long been responsible for the most important aspects of the security services and the Republican Guard. Ali Hasan al-Majid, from the al-Majid branch of the family, was responsible for... more
... His younger son and heir apparent, Qusay, has long been responsible for the most important aspects of the security services and the Republican Guard. Ali Hasan al-Majid, from the al-Majid branch of the family, was responsible for pacifying the Kurds during the IranIraq War. ...
... Noah Feldman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004. $29.95. 200 pp. ... $26.00. 480 pp. My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope. L. Paul Bremer III with MalcolmMcConnell. New York: Simon & Schuster,... more
... Noah Feldman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004. $29.95. 200 pp. ... $26.00. 480 pp. My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope. L. Paul Bremer III with MalcolmMcConnell. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. $27.00. 417 pp. ...
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... The second constituency that the UN will have to deal with is the new government headed by Ayad Allawi. ... It is also Ayad Allawi and his cabinet that will have to battle to establish domestic sovereignty from now until any elections... more
... The second constituency that the UN will have to deal with is the new government headed by Ayad Allawi. ... It is also Ayad Allawi and his cabinet that will have to battle to establish domestic sovereignty from now until any elections in 2005. ...
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A US-led assault on Iraq will have unpredictable and possibly profound effects on Iraqi society. Moreover, those effects will vary with the objectives and strategy adopted by the US and its allies as well as by the pace and scope of the... more
A US-led assault on Iraq will have unpredictable and possibly profound effects on Iraqi society. Moreover, those effects will vary with the objectives and strategy adopted by the US and its allies as well as by the pace and scope of the collapse of Iraqi resistance. Further, ...
... DOI: 10.1080/01436590500370061 Toby Dodge * ... The failure and collapse of nation-states: breakdown, prevention and repair', in Rotberg, When States Fail: Causes and Consequences, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,... more
... DOI: 10.1080/01436590500370061 Toby Dodge * ... The failure and collapse of nation-states: breakdown, prevention and repair', in Rotberg, When States Fail: Causes and Consequences, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004, p 2; and M Mann, 'The autonomous ...
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... the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Partisans of the Sunna Army, the Mujahadeen's Army,Muhammad's Army and Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq.36 As the names suggest, politi-cal violence has been increasingly justified in... more
... the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Partisans of the Sunna Army, the Mujahadeen's Army,Muhammad's Army and Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq.36 As the names suggest, politi-cal violence has been increasingly justified in religious terms. ...
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It is hard to over-estimate what is at stake in Iraq today. The removal of Saddam Hussein has proved to be the beginning, not the culmination, of a long and highly uncertain process of occupation and state-building. The lawlessness and... more
It is hard to over-estimate what is at stake in Iraq today. The removal of Saddam Hussein has proved to be the beginning, not the culmination, of a long and highly uncertain process of occupation and state-building. The lawlessness and looting that greeted the liberation of ...
Research Interests:
directeur de recherche au CNRS (Institut de recherches et d'études sur le Monde arabe et musulman, Aix-en-Provence), travaille sur les forces armées dans le Monde arabe ainsi que sur les relations syro-libanaises. Elle... more
directeur de recherche au CNRS (Institut de recherches et d'études sur le Monde arabe et musulman, Aix-en-Provence), travaille sur les forces armées dans le Monde arabe ainsi que sur les relations syro-libanaises. Elle vient de publier «L'Irak dans les représentations des ...