Iraq’s foreign policy – like its domestic agenda – is still in formation, following the fall of Saddam Hussein. Since 2003, most attention has been paid to the role of various neighbours and external actors in Iraq. As its political situation stabilizes, Iraq’s role as a regional and international actor is becoming more dynamic and Iraqi leaders are beginning to pursue their goals in the international arena. This report details how Iraq is reclaiming its foreign policy and beginning to develop its positions on critical regional and international issues.

Iraq is no longer on the front pages, as the war in Afghanistan becomes the preoccupying concern of governments in Ottawa and Washington. But it is still a story filled with drama and violence, of a society in a difficult transition from authoritarianism to a more representative form of government.

Iraq has always been a multi-ethnic and multicultural society, home to many minority and micro-minority communities that have existed for thousands of years, even if the former regime focused on Iraq’s unity as an Arab country with Sunni Arabs and the Ba’ath Party as the dominant political actor. Since the war began in 2003, the vitality of this cultural, religious and social mosaic has been under threat.

Sans projet de réconciliation nationale en Irak, il n'y aura pas de sécurité, estime l'ancien envoyé spécial de la Ligue arabe dans ce pays, Mokhtar Lamani. Dans une entrevue à La Presse, ce chercheur au Centre pour l'innovation dans la gouvernance internationale de Waterloo en Ontario s'est dit déçu à la fois des politiciens irakiens au pouvoir et de l'administration américaine de Barack Obama.