Shia Power Comes of Age

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Shia politics roared to the center of power</strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003 after decades of marginalization under Saddam Hussein. A new generation of clerics and politicians self-described as Shia Islamists promised a revolution in law and governance.</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The meaning of Shia Islamism today is murkier than ever</strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>. A confusing array of factions all wear the label which does nothing to explain their positions on questions ranging from sectarianism to the role of faith in politics to any of Iraq's manifold pressing crises of governance.</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><em>Shia Power Comes of Age: The Transformation of Islamist Politics in Iraq 2003-2023 </em></strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>maps the radical transformation of Shia Islamist politics in Iraq over the last two decades. Researchers deeply steeped in Iraq's Shia communities clerics and politicians analyze the significance of the new status quo politics for Islamists and sectarian movements farther afield.</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Contributors include</strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> Taif AlKhudary Ali Al-Mawlawi Marsin Alshamary Haley Bobseine Thanassis Cambanis Maria Fantappie Fanar Haddad Sajad Jiyad Renad Mansour and Ben Robin-D'Cruz.</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>About the editors: </strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Thanassis Cambanis is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation and director of Century International. Sajad Jiyad is a fellow at Century International and director of Iraq Bridge in Baghdad. </span></p>