Queen's Policy Engagement

Is protecting Mosul minorities an excuse for partition?

Article first appeared on Al Jazeera English on 17 October, where Professor Beverley Milton-Edwards highlights that while appearing attractive in the abstract, partition could make matters worse, not better, in fragile states.

Is protecting Mosul minorities an excuse for partition?

As the military battle over ISIL-controlled Mosul and  has begun, questions over the future of this vital province of Iraq are flowing thick and fast.

While there is confidence that the new US-supported coalition can defeat ISIL (also known as ISIS), there are concerns that each faction holds contesting views about what comes after.

It is becoming apparent, for example, that a number of elements have well-vested interests in partitioning the province into a series of six to eight ethnic or sectarian cantons with independent rights and autonomy from Haider al-Abadi’s government in Baghdad.

Read more.

 

The feature image in this article has been used thanks to a Creative Commons licence.

Professor Beverley Milton-Edwards
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Beverley Milton-Edwards is a Professor of Politics at the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen's University where she specialises in research and teaching on violence, terrorism and security, as well as the Politics of the Middle East and Political Islam. Professor Milton-Edwards has worked as a Special Advisor to a number of high-level governmental representatives, including the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the EU’s Middle East Peace Envoy. She is currently a Visiting Fellow at Brookings Doha Center.

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