Iraq’s Tishreen Movement: A Decade of Protests and Mobilisation

The last decade has seen progressive waves of protest and mobilisation across Iraq. The country has failed in its attempts towards democratic transition, and conflict, social rupture, sectarianism, and the empowerment of armed nonstate actors have taken hold. The Tishreen movement that emerged in October 2019 is a culmination of citizen anger and smaller mobilisations over the years against the lack of service delivery and poor governance and has faced violent confrontation from state and nonstate actors. Despite the pandemic, the Tishreen movement remains potent and active both online and in public spaces. Iraq’s youth – the driving force behind the movement – have set the country’s people on a collision course with the state, the political infrastructure, and the security apparatus (formal and informal) that enforces it. The international community has an obligation to protect these young activists.

Paper prepared in the framework of the IAI-ECFR-CeSPI project “Ten Years into the Protests in the Middle East and North Africa. Dynamics of Mobilisation in a Complex (Geo)Political Environment and the Role of the European Union”.