Pitfalls of the Paramilitary Paradigm: The Iraqi State, Geopolitics, and Al-Hashd al-Shaabi by Vanda Felbab-Brown - Brookings Report
Iraq has a decades-long tradition of extensive paramilitary forces. They are highly varied in their political affiliations, ideologies, and objectives, and some have historically been part of the state while others have battled against it. Although formed mostly along sectarian lines and around particular political and tribal leaders, today some 60 paramilitary groups have coalesced under an umbrella organization known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or, in Arabic, Al-Hashd al-Shaabi.
These groups—which played a key role in defeating the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq, now pose their own challenges to the Iraqi state and society. They have deeply permeated the state and its still-developing political institutions. There is substantial risk that they will exploit their power, undermining progress of the Iraqi state toward being a more inclusive, equitable, and capacious provider of public goods and security.
The paramilitary groups are also enmeshed in the region’s geopolitical rivalries, and in any regional conflict, they could act as key proxies of local powers, particularly Iran—outcomes severely detrimental to the stability of Iraq and adverse to U.S. interests in the Middle East. Devising an effective policy for dealing with the paramilitary groups is thus fundamental to Iraq’s stability…