Blacklisted in Baghdad
The recent ban of more than 500 candidates from Iraq's upcoming elections is designed to cement the power of the country's Shiite Islamists aligned with Iran. Will this latest sectarian rupture sink any hopes for a stable Iraq, asks Reidar Visser in Foreign Affairs .
MoreThe Iranian Revolution at 30
Professor Daniel Heradstveit contributes an article to a special edition of the Middle East Institute’s publication Viewpoints marking the 30th anniversary of the Iranian revolution.
MoreFrench-Norwegian book launch
Daniel Heradstveit co-editor and project manager presents his new book Sécularisation et démocratisation dans les sociétés musulmanes in Paris 10 December 2008.
MoreEstablished in 2000, this unit works along two main tracks: studying the ethical-normative aspects regarding the involvement of foreign corporations in the area between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, and issues of regional political stability. Recent projects include studies of Iran under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, corruption in Azerbaijan, federalism in Iraq, as well as problems connected to secularity/ Islamism in the Middle East.
The main sources of finance for this research programme come from the business and industrial sector – the oil industry in particular – and Norwegian as well as international actors. The group has ongoing collaboration projects with Syracuse University in New York state, and the Association Française pour l’Étude de la Méditerranée Orientale et du Monde Turco-Iranien in Paris. Further information on the Iraq-oriented research activities of the project group can be found on the websites nupi.no and historiae.org .
The state system of the Gulf: Decentralisation, federalism and regional integration
This project will address the issue of unitary versus federal states at a regional level in the Gulf. More
The War on Terrorism as Political Communication
Considering different cultural codes and world views, the research demonstrates how the metaphor “War on Terrorism”is highly counterproductive for communication on the global level. More
Iraq’s future on Iraqi terms
The aim of the project is to gather a group of highly qualified persons from Iraqi society in order to analyse the situation in their country. More
Secularization in the Muslim world
Secularization in the Muslim world is discussed on the basis of a number of empirical cases from different continents, regions and countries. More
- Visser, Reidar
(2012). Sectarian Coexistence in Iraq: The Experiences of the Shi‘a in Areas North of Baghdad,
in Imranali Panjwani (ed): The Shi’a of Samarra: The Heritage & Politics of a Community in Iraq
.I.B.Tauris.p. 163-176.In this book chapter, Reidar Visser discusses the experiences of the shi‘a in areas north of Baghdad in a wider Iraqi politics discourse. [url] - Visser, Reidar
(2011). Iraq,
in Assaf Moghadam (ed.) Militancy and Political Violence in Shiism: Trends and Patterns
.New York,Routledge.p. .Reidar Visser has written a contribution on Iraq in Assaf Moghadam's book about militancy and political violence in Shiism. [url] - Visser, Reidar
(2011). Policing a Messy Federation: The Role of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court, 2005-2010,
in Orient vol. 52 nr. 2
.p. 12-18.This article looks at the role of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court in adjudicating the ground rules of Iraq’s new federalism that have been introduced gradually since the US occupation began in 2003. The main argument is that from the adoption of the new Iraqi constitution in October 2005, the supreme court has changed its views on federalism quite considerably, apparently at least to some extent due to political pressure. [url] - Visser, Reidar
(2010). Social Complexity and National Identity in Hanna Batatu's Scholarship on Iraq,
in Chris Toensing and Mimi kirk (ed.) Uncovering Iraq: Trajectories of Disintegration and Transformation
.Washington, DC, Georgetown University Press.p. .This book chapter traces Hanna Batatu's Scholarship on Iraq and pays special attention to social complexity and national identity. [url] - Visser, Reidar
(2010). The territorial aspect of sectarianism in Iraq,
i International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies 4 (3)
.Intellect.p. 295-304.This article examines the territorial aspect of sectarian relations in Iraq. The main argument is that such a territorial component is largely missing in Iraq and that historically, there have been very few attempts to connect sectarian identity in Iraq to specific, more restricted territories of the country. [url] - Visser, Reidar (2010). A Responsible End? . Charlottesville, VA, Just World Books. 302 pages. Book on internal Iraqi politics and the role of the United States in the Iraqi transition in the period 2005-2010.
- Visser, Reidar
(2010). Tribalism in Iraq: resurgent force or anachronism in the modern state? ,
Contemporary Arab Affairs, vol. 3 nr. 4
.Routledge.p. 495-502.This article criticizes the way in which the concept of 'tribalism' has been used by Western policy-makers and media in post-2003 Iraq. [url] - Visser, Reidar
(2010). The Kurdish Issue in Iraq: A View from Baghdad at the Close of the Maliki Premiership,
The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, vol. 34, nr. 1
.The Fletcher School, Tufts University.p. 77-94.As violence in Iraq has subsided since 2007, the “Kurdish issue” has reemerged as one of the greatest threats to future stability in Iraq. [url] - Visser, Reidar
(2010). Iraq Moves Backward,
Middle East Report no. 255, Summer 2010
.p. 2-7. There's been a dramatic change in Iraqi politics from 2009 to 2010. The easiest way to understand this change is to look at shifts in the discourse of politicians belonging to the Da‘wa Party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. [url] - Visser, Reidar
(2009). Europeisk Irak-politikk,
i Rieker, Pernille og Walter Emanuel Carlsnæs [red.] Nye utfordringer for europeisk sikkerhetspolitikk. Aktører, instrumenter og operasjoner
. Oslo, Universitetsforlaget.p. 207-216.Kapittelet drøfter europeisk Irak-politikk på ett utvalgt område: Europas overordnede syn på Irak som en politisk enhet og dens levedyktighet. [url]