Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 06/2014

Maliki's Authoritarian Regime

Marisa Sullivan

April 2013

Institute for the Study of War

Abstract

Today, political and military power in Iraq is highly centralized in Prime Minister Maliki’s personal office. The national unity government that was formed in the wake of the 2010 parliamentary elections has given way to a de-facto majoritarian government in which Maliki has a monopoly on the institutions of the state. This will have important implications for the future of Iraq and the trajectory and durability of its democratic transition.