Stabilizing Postwar Iraq: The Practical Antinomies of a Promising Concept

Over the last decade, stabilization has gained ground as a pragmatic, short-term response to conflict and terrorism. While efforts to achieve a shared-upon doctrinal understanding of this international practice proved inconclusive, stabilization work in Iraq since 2014 offers valuable insights to evaluate the relevance of the concept and the challenges it faces in its implemention. This article assesses the antinomies of stabilization in the context of Iraq, where both the Global Coalition against Daesh and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have undertaken a wide range of military and civilian-led stabilization activities following the defeat of the Islamic State (IS). Although these activities have contributed to the restoration of a basic sense of “normalcy,” including the return home of almost five million internationally displaced persons (IDPs), structural constraints, such as increasing authoritarianism, continue to hinder Iraq’s path toward self-sustaining peace and development.