Alex Danilovich, Iraqi Federalism and the Kurds: Learning to Live Together, Farnham, Surrey and Burlington: Ashgate, 2014, 181 pp., (ISBN: 9781409451112).

Ten years ago Iraq embarked on a federal path. The author of this book, Alex Danilovich, who teaches political science at University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, Iraq, approaches it as a large-scale ongoing social experiment. Not least because the Kurds in Iraq have been persecuted by successive Iraqi regimes, it is of great importance to explore this specific case as it is unfolding so history will not repeat itself. If it turns out well, federalism may prove to be a promising democratic arrangement to manage conflicts and end sectarian and ethnic violence without changing international borders in non-Western multi-ethnic states, especially in Middle Eastern states currently raged by social turmoil and war. Can a Western constitutional framework hold in a deeply divided society where politics is largely identity-based and revolves around ethnic, tribal and sectarian allegiance? More specifically, can Islamic principles successfully sit with Western liberalism within one constitutional system? In addition to these two questions of concern to many social scientists, the author asks one country-specific question: Is Iraqi federalism a solution to the problem of the country’s severe disunity or is it just a temporary solution for the Kurds while they bide their time for declaring independence? Here the book seeks to contribute theoretically to the academic literature on “the paradox of federalism”: Does federalism offer a mechanism for maintaining international borders in deeply divided states, or does it rather promote separatism for ethnic groups/federal units as they develop institutions and mobilise resources?

The book, which consists of six chapters, starts out with a literature review on comparative federalism to construct a theoretical framework of crucial issues relevant when analysing Iraq’s first ten years’ as federal state. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Iraqi federal system, setting the scene for the book’s empirical focus on four controversial features discussed in chapter 3 to 6. Chapter 3 analyses the role of Kurdistan’s regional security forces, the Peshmerga, within Iraqi federation. Chapter 4 discusses Kurdistan Region’s international activities. Chapter 5 discusses conflicts around federalisation of Iraq’s natural resources. Chapter 6 investigates how the cohabitation of the principles of Islam and liberal constitutionalism in the 2005 Iraqi Constitution is played out and impacts Iraqi federalism.

The book’s outline is pedagogically structured as most chapters include continuous references to main arguments and explanatory frameworks and most issues are elaborated in relation to: (1) other federal states and units’ constitutional arrangements and practical politics over time (e.g. Quebec in Canada, Belgium’s two regions, Nigeria and Brazil); (2) the Iraqi Constitution; and (3) Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) actions and intentions with reference to practical policies, official statements in media and a few interviews for the book.

The author argues that Peshmerga does not necessarily pose a threat to Iraqi unity. First, Peshmerga was established a long time ago under circumstances when Kurdish identity was under severe threat which is no longer the case. Second, the legacy of the current form of Peshmerga derives from distrust between the two main Kurdish parties. Third, the KRG has seriously considered partial transfer of Peshmerga control of the federal army, not least for financial reasons. The institutional design too provides for such collaboration. In regard to KRG’s agenda in the international arena, the author finds a similar cultural and linguistic driving force behind these activities as in the cases of Quebec in Canada and Catalonia in Spain, which has more to do with paradiplomacy (through which political sub-units promote their economic, political and cultural interests) than the more aggressive form of protodiplomacy (through which subunits seek to assert claims to sovereign status). In addition, KRG’s offices abroad are remnants from the 1990s, still fueled by inter-Kurdish problems between the KDP and PUK and not directed against the federal government, and therefore also in accordance with the 2005 Constitution. Kurdish ministers confirm that KRG only implements foreign policy formulated in Baghdad, without pursuing own independent foreign policy. These conclusions seem important since many experts and the commentators have voiced suspicions that the Kurds have a hidden agenda to break away from Iraq in the long run without reason.

For different reasons the controversial issues focused on in chapter 5 and 6 do not appear as well scrutinised as those in chapter 3 and 4. Despite the fact that the author(s) have stayed several years in the Kurdistan Region, no first hand interviews have been conducted either with officials and advisors present at the time the Constitution was negotiated in Baghdad nor officials handling every day political issues. While other researchers are referred to, facts and arguments in general seem to be based on media sources. Consequently, not much new light is shed on the issue of federalisation of natural resources other than what is initially stated: relevant constitutional provisions remain ambiguous and are interpreted selectively by both Erbil and Baghdad. This is disappointing since, as the author(s) points out, this was one of the toughest areas to negotiate. Chapter 5 finds the current federal system providing different political elites a framework within which they nurture their own financial interests by using political stalemates. Chapter 6 concludes that it is too early to tell whether Iraqi constitutionalism will side with Islam or liberal human rights. The territorial/federal chamber of the federal parliament intended to mediate Article 2 in the Constitution has not yet been set up and the only possible umpire of federal relations remains the Federal Supreme Court which is dominated by political nominations and remains salient.

Writing in 2013 Alex Danilovich concludes that while the Iraqi federal system remains unstable, it is overall ongoing and promising as major disputes between Erbil and Baghdad are resolved by negotiations rather than force. Iraq’s ethnic federation has brought peace to the divided society and created conditions in which Iraq’s constituent groups may eventually learn to live together as federal partners. As federal relationships in both Canada and Belgium indicated, the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil must necessarily be adjusted and reshaped over time. Federal relations in Iraq will need time to root and function smoothly. Judicial mechanisms to attune the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil are not yet in place. The implementation of the concept of constitutionalism and federalism is unthinkable without an active role of the judiciary. Erbil’s activism also escalates when there is perception of the federal government’s inefficiency, deliberate punishment policies, limited resources and lack of expertise and experts. Erbil complains publicly about these issues and is willing to address them. In 2013 the author notes in a footnote that the KRG so far only implements foreign policy formulated in Baghdad, it has clearly expressed sympathy for Syria’s uprising while Baghdad supports the Syrian regime. Since the war with ISIS, new geopolitical issues have appeared that may change the post-sovereign political order which the author somehow uses as a point of reference when analysing Iraqi federalism. Since summer 2014, the entire Middle East and North Africa is going through dramatic political and social changes. Many issues are at stake. Will Iraqi federalism and the desire to live together survive the current turmoil? How long will the Kurds be able to be part of nominal federation if the political order is challenged by other groups than the Kurds? What would the Kurds do if federalism turns out to be yet another round of state-building failure in Iraq?

This book contributes with a case study to academic literature on both federalism and constitutionalism. Researchers interested in these theoretical issues will find a thorough presentation and analytical discussion of some core issues in the Iraqi Federal Constitution which has not been highlighted earlier. The book will also find its circle of readers among academics and students focusing on the Kurdish cause. It is generally well written and pedagogically structured.