Shi’i Separatism in Iraq: Internet Reverie or Real Constitutional Challenge?

“Shi’i separatism” is often referred to as a threat to Iraq. But how real is that threat today? This research paper concentrates on how ultra-radical Shi’is since 2004 have used the Internet to proliferate separatist ideas for an Iraqi Shi’i audience. In these circles, visions of a breakaway Shi’i state from Samarra (north of Baghdad) down to the Gulf circulate. But the paper also highlights the relative weakness of this new current. Only on certain conditions – directly related to the ongoing constitutional process in Iraq and the federal constitutional design chosen for the new political system in the country – does any widening of the separatist agitation among the Shi’is in the country seem probable… More.