What are Egypt's Lessons for Iraq?

The Iraqi experience’s different developments have shown how the work of these parties evolved, starting from laying the foundations of a deep popular authority that uses mutual sectarian divisions and fears to firmly establish its existence. Then, they engaged in a political struggle over power and governance, before adapting themselves to the popular mood by raising slogans that have nothing to do with “political Islam.”

In fact, the different Iraqi political Islam parties changed the pattern of their work with time and based on the experiences that were not successful in many cases. They replaced the ambition for an “Islamist rule” by demanding a “civil rule.” This change was obviously reflected in altering their parties’ names, programs, rhetoric and alliances.

This change was not smooth. This does not also mean that the traditional religious parties could give up their religious goals. Yet, it also showed a clear pragmatism in adapting to variables, even though these variables were often ostensible and shallow.

As the Arab Spring emerged, Iraq was going through a fierce crisis, the main characters of which are generally the representatives of the Iraqi political Islam parties that have been leading the Iraqi political scene for 10 years.

As far as Iraq is concerned, these revolutions were interpreted differently. Yet, the interpretation remained incomplete, biased and influenced by a sectarian background. Moreover, some of them dealt with the Arab Spring variables as being completely separate from Iraq, isolated from its social and political dynamics.

The fact is, the Iraqi experience actively influenced the variables of the Arab Spring, by which it was strongly affected. Even the Iraqi political struggle — which has been exacerbated in an unprecedented way since 2011 — was not unrelated to the impact of movements around the region. The Iraqi reality has become more dangerous with the outbreak of the Syrian crisis and the expansion of sectarian polarization in the region.