Conflict Research Programme
The Conflict Research Programme (CRP) ran between October 2017 and March 2021. It addressed the drivers and dynamics of violent conflict in the Middle East and Africa and informed measures being used to tackle armed conflict and its impacts. The programme focused on Iraq, Syria, DRC, Somalia and South Sudan, as well as the wider Horn of Africa/Red Sea and Middle East regions.
The LSE Middle East Centre worked closely with local Iraqi organisations to lead research on drivers of conflict in Iraq and the wider Middle East. The CRP funded 24 projects on Iraq. Publications produced as part of this programme due to be published in the summer of 2021 are listed below.
This programme was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Principal Investigator: Taif Alkhudary, LSE Middle East Centre
This project examines legal discrimination against Iraqi women.
Principal Investigator: Omar Al-Jaffal
This project examines the formation and internal functioning of Iraq's political parties.
Disinformation in the Iraqi Media
Principal Investigator: Aida Al-Kaisey
This project examines the key narratives of disinformation in the Iraqi media and the impact it has on policy debates.
Principal Investigator: Benedict Robin D'Cruz
This project looks at the tactical and strategic decisions that activists make during mobilisation and after protests abate.
Principal Investigator: Jessica Watkins, LSE Middle East Centre
This project seeks to contextualise internationally-backed centralised efforts to demilitarise the local Iraqi police post-2017.
Principal Investigator: Michael Mason, LSE Middle East Centre
This project examines the extent to which water infrastructure interventions are sustainable and meet the expectations of Iraqis.
Principal Investigators: Omar Al-Jaffal and Safaa Khalaf
This project examined challenges local governance in Basra.
Principal Investigator: Sajad Jiyad
This project analysed the upcoming federal elections and their potential impact on the political order in Iraq.
Principal Investigator: Omar Sirri
This project examined the political economy of space in Baghdad.
Principal Investigators: Ali Al-Mawlawi and Sajad Jiyad
This project explored the extent to which decentralisation has been enforced and implemented in Iraq.
Is Demography Destiny?
Principal Investigator: Alexander Hamilton
This project examines the economic implications of Iraq's fast-expanding demographic profile.
Principal Investigators: Zmkan Ali Saleem and Mac Skelton
This project examined the state of the patronage networks of the two major political parties in Kurdistan.
The Political Economy of Economic Policy in Iraq
Principal Investigator: Alexander Hamilton
This project examined the impact of the post-2003 political system on the implementation of economic policy.
Principal Investigator: Zeynep Kaya, LSE Middle East Centre
This project examined how gender norms are contested, manipulated, and influence the conflict economy in Iraq.
Principal Investigator: Ali Al-Mawlawi
This project examined Iraqi government corruption by looking at the rapid expansion of payrolls after 2003.
Principal Investigator: Aida Al-Kaisy
The project examined ‘pockets of civicness' in the Iraqi media.
Principal Investigator: Jessica Watkins, LSE Middle East Centre
This project re-assessed assumptions about whether and how satellite channels promote sectarianisation in the MENA.
Principal Investigator: Mac Skelton
This project looked into how the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Government of Iraq drive conflict.
Principal Investigator: Christine van den Toorn
This project examined the mobilisation strategies and results of the 2018 Iraqi elections.
Principal Investigator: Güley Bor
This project analysed the extent to which domestic laws on conflict-related SGBV responses and reparations are being implemented.
The LSE Middle East Centre hosted two workshops examining the institutional structures used to govern Iraq and test their sustainability, following the liberation of Mosul from Islamic State and the Kurdish independence referendum in 2017.
This workshop examined the major dynamics that shaped Iraqi politics following the liberation of Mosul and the arrival of Iraqi troops in Kirkuk.
Read a summary of workshop proceedings in Arabic and English.
This workshop examined the major dynamics shaping Iraq-Kurdish politics following the independence referendum held in September 2017.
Read a summary of workshop proceedings in Arabic and English.
Other reports
The Iraqi protest movement: From identity politics to issue politics
Principal Investigator: Faleh A. Jabar
This project examined the 2015 protest movement in Iraq.
The Iraqi Constitution: Structural Flaws and Political Implications
Principal Investigator: Saad N. Jawad
This project examined the flaws and political consequences of Iraq's 2005 consitution.