Who Is Iraq's 'Person of the Year' For 2015?

Ordinary people in Iraq are both concerned about the militia-manned checkpoints that dot their cities and towns, and thankful for them. And even as attempts are made to rein the volunteer militias in, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that these controversial groups will continue to play a major role in Iraqi politics, even after the Islamic State group are expelled.

The militias, known locally as the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units, cover the full spectrum of Shiite Muslim political interests in Iraq and Hadi al-Ameri heads one of the largest of these groups, the Badr organization, which has ties to both Iran and the country's controversial former Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

Al-Ameri, who is also Iraq's Minister of Transport, frequently participates in clever photo ops, posing with senior Iranian military commanders – in particular, the “legendary” Qassim Soleimani. And he has publicly said that Iran is the best friend Iraq has. He has also merged his militia's popularity and power with the political, using his position to score points against political opponents, including current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

With his military posing and his political manoeuvring, al-Ameri represents the increasing impact of the country’s Shiite Muslim militias on the Iraqi people's lives throughout 2015 and, most likely, in the future too.

The Iraqi demonstrators

Although they've been through so much – most Iraqis you meet know at least one person well, who has died a violent death – the locals who started popular demonstrations against judicial and political corruption still had some hope that things could change. Although many young Iraqis continue to want to leave (and do leave, especially after Europe appeared to open its borders to them in the middle of this year) for cities where car bombs are not a regular occurrence, those who took to the streets were prepared to stand up for change at home.