Antagonistic Youths: Joining Militias or Revolting

Since the beginning of the war against Daesh, Iraq society has been going through a process of intense militiasation that encompasses this youth, generally without an income or diploma. These young Iraqis are tempted to join these militias because they offer a financial compensation, enabling them to provide to their own needs. Militias have significant financial reserves thanks to State’s direct funding ($2.6 billion in 2021 1 ). Moreover, since 2014 2 when Ali Al-Sistani issued a fatwa in the face of Daesh’s existential threat leading to the establishment of the Popular Mobilisation “Hachd al-Shabi”, the militias have considerably strengthened their ranks with the recruitment of young Iraqis.

However, it would be a mistake to focus solely on the economic motivations pushing many to join the militias. Some of the youth join the militias with the desire to confront Daesh’s expansion or to change their society and the country through arms and jihad. Others enlist to obtain a protection from these militias against external threats.

This militiasation of Iraqi society stands as a major challenge to these young people who generally find themselves trapped in this spiral of violence instrumentalised by political parties and foreign countries such as Iran through Ismael Quanii.

At the opposite end of the spectrum from this first category of Iraqi youth, a significant group of other young Iraqis were involved within the protest movement since October 2019. At the root of this civic engagement, aspirations for a stable, prosperous, sovereign state free of corruption and capable of providing security to all.

Although, for many of them, the revolution seemed to have been the only viable situation to obtain their full demands, after 2 years of protest, the gains of their demands seem rather meager. Thus, this youth has been compelled to expand the scope of their commitments and their demands. Some have chosen to compromise with the established system by participating, for example, in the democratic process during the general elections of October 2021. Others adopted a more radical approach/stance, using violence as a means to achieve their end goal. The latter seems to be limited for the moment.

Fatalism: A source of disengagement amongst youth

Nonetheless, we must not exclude another significant category of young people who have chosen to disengage completely from Iraqi society. This fatalism should neither be ignored nor underestimated. Indeed, many young people choose silence by privileging survival to the difficulties of the daily life. They consider that there no longer exists viable alternatives to bring prosperity in their country. The political classes, militias and protestors are seen as all equally responsible for the deadlock in which Iraq finds itself today.

To escape this anxiety-inducing situation, an increasing number of young Iraqis have decided or plan to choose exile to the Gulf countries, Turkey or Europe in search of a better future. No region of Iraq is spared from this youth exodus, even Iraqi Kurdistan, the most developed region of Iraq, is observing this process with more the 53,000 Kurds over the age of 18 who would have sought asylum in Europe in 2021 (mostly young people) 3 .

Moreover, amongst members of this youth exodus, there is a very high proportion of young Iraqi graduates. Thus, Iraq is not only emptying itself of its youth but also of high-skilled labour thus helplessly witnessing a brain drain.

Civil Society as a means of Emancipation

Finally, there exists another category of young Iraqis who refuse to emigrate and who desire to free themselves from the political, social and economic deadlock the country finds itself in. This category favours enrolment into civil society by working hand-in-hand or within international or local NGOs. This commitment’s prime objective is to emancipate its actors from the everyday hurdles of the daily life, but above all to find a third and alternative path to try to reform Iraq.

Numerous programs have been set up to allow these Iraqis committed to change but also other undecided others, to develop a common frame of reference: a common Iraqi identity. One that transcends communitarianism and holistic groups, omnipresent and key players in Iraq.

This newly found compromise between political engagement and protest is certainly less radical in achieving the desired change in Iraq but it is quite possible that these missions may eventually bear fruit. The values conveyed by these NGOs: social cohesion solidarity, fraternity, can eventually lead to the development of its own political stream of thought. It could eventually be capable of overcoming the overly rigid frameworks used by Iraqi politicians and elites, both responsible for the deadlock in which Iraq finds itself today. However, it must be taken into account that today this type of commitment remains at the margins of Iraqi society and that in its current form, it is not sufficient to bring a real change among politicians.

Conclusion

These youths or rather diverse ranges of youth commitments to change adopt different strategies, sometimes antagonistic, to escape from their morose daily life. It has been demonstrated that this youth cannot be characterised as a homogeneous group as the forms of commitment are diverse. Nonetheless, most agree on an initial observation, shared by an overwhelming majority of young people : the Iraqi Sate is on the brink of becoming a failed state, if it isn’t already.

This can be illustrated as the Iraqi State is unable to ensure its territorial integrity, to fend off foreign interference, develop other economic sectors that would reduce the share of hydrocarbon sales in GPD, to reduce the rate of unemployment. All of these problems mean that the Iraqi State struggles to keep up with its state duties.

With each and every generation, the youth has shown creativity, but this time, it will take much more to get out of this deadlock. Thus, the State must be able to offer perspectives and solutions towards the future of its youth; otherwise it will be sacrificed.