Policing Iraq: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Empire in a Developing State
Policing Iraq chronicles the efforts of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to rebuild their police force and criminal justice system in the wake of the US invasion. Jesse S. G. Wozniak conducted ethnographic research during multiple stays in Iraqi Kurdistan, observing such signpost moments as the Arab Spring, the official withdrawal of coalition forces, the rise of the Islamic State, and the return of US forces. By investigating the day-to-day reality of reconstructing a police force during active hostilities, Wozniak demonstrates how police are integral to the modern state’s ability to effectively rule and how the failure to recognize this directly contributed to the destabilization of Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State. The reconstruction process ignored established practices and scientific knowledge, instead opting to create a facade of legitimacy masking a police force characterized by low pay, poor recruits, and a training regimen wholly unsuited to a constitutional democracy. Ultimately, Wozniak argues, the United States never intended to build a democratic state but rather to develop a dependent client to serve its neoimperial interests.
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Policing Iraq: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Empire in a Developing State
Policing Iraq chronicles the efforts of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to rebuild their police force and criminal justice system in the wake of the US invasion. Jesse S. G. Wozniak conducted ethnographic research during multiple stays in Iraqi Kurdistan, observing such signpost moments as the Arab Spring, the official withdrawal of coalition forces, the rise of the Islamic State, and the return of US forces. By investigating the day-to-day reality of reconstructing a police force during active hostilities, Wozniak demonstrates how police are integral to the modern state’s ability to effectively rule and how the failure to recognize this directly contributed to the destabilization of Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State. The reconstruction process ignored established practices and scientific knowledge, instead opting to create a facade of legitimacy masking a police force characterized by low pay, poor recruits, and a training regimen wholly unsuited to a constitutional democracy. Ultimately, Wozniak argues, the United States never intended to build a democratic state but rather to develop a dependent client to serve its neoimperial interests.
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Policing Iraq: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Empire in a Developing State

Policing Iraq: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Empire in a Developing State

by Jesse Wozniak
Policing Iraq: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Empire in a Developing State
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Policing Iraq: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Empire in a Developing State

Policing Iraq: Legitimacy, Democracy, and Empire in a Developing State

by Jesse Wozniak

Overview

Policing Iraq chronicles the efforts of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to rebuild their police force and criminal justice system in the wake of the US invasion. Jesse S. G. Wozniak conducted ethnographic research during multiple stays in Iraqi Kurdistan, observing such signpost moments as the Arab Spring, the official withdrawal of coalition forces, the rise of the Islamic State, and the return of US forces. By investigating the day-to-day reality of reconstructing a police force during active hostilities, Wozniak demonstrates how police are integral to the modern state’s ability to effectively rule and how the failure to recognize this directly contributed to the destabilization of Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State. The reconstruction process ignored established practices and scientific knowledge, instead opting to create a facade of legitimacy masking a police force characterized by low pay, poor recruits, and a training regimen wholly unsuited to a constitutional democracy. Ultimately, Wozniak argues, the United States never intended to build a democratic state but rather to develop a dependent client to serve its neoimperial interests.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780520355712
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication date: 03/09/2021
Edition description: First Edition
Pages: 254
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jesse Wozniak is Associate Professor of Sociology at West Virginia University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

1 Kurds, Criminal Justice, and State Legitimacy 1

2 The Face of the State: How Police are Central to Modern Governance 18

3 "Ninety-Nine Percent of Our Problems are Due to the Budget": The Lofty Expectations and Dismal Reality of Reconstruction 48

4 "Nothing on How to Investigate, Nothing on How to Talk to or Deal with People": The Cultural Performance of Policing 72

5 "If You Have No Degree, You Can Work Here": Qualifications, Consent, and Coercion 97

6 "The Law is in One Valley, But Reality is in a Different Valley": Tribes, Political Parties, and Governments Compete for Control 121

7 Police, State Making, and Imperialism 146

Appendix: On Conducting Conflict Research 169

Notes 191

References 209

Index 231

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Related Subjects

History
Middle Eastern History
Iraq - History
History
Middle Eastern History
Iraq - History

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