Research Portfolio Post #5: Research Topic
I am proposing to research the persecution of Christians in Iraq following the US invasion because I want to find out how dictators ensure the safety of religious minorities/how dictators ensure social stability in order to help my reader understand how social dynamics function under oppressive regimes so the US can make better decisions when it comes to confronting authoritarian regimes.
Johnathan Fox, in his article, ““Religious Discrimination against Religious Minorities in Middle Eastern Muslim States,” investigates religious discrimination of religious minorities in Muslim Majority states throughout the MENA region.[1] Using large N, neo-positivist research,[2] Fox concludes that Muslim minority groups suffer the least, with Christians being persecuted a fair amount, and other religious minorities groups suffering the most.[3] He also argues that there has been a sharp drop in religious discrimination that “is almost totally due to the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.”[4] Fox focus is on governmental regulations and laws that persecute religious minorities and does not consider the impact of non-state actors, and it is only near the end of his article that he notes that while there may be little official discrimination that does not mean there are not other “constant and deadly intercommunal attacks.”[5] In addition, this article focuses only on data through 2008, [6] before the rise of the Islamic State and the group’s takeover of Mosul. He concludes that when a government is replaced, it is the Islamic parties with overt agendas who have increased influence.[7] I then wonder, what role do dictators, like Saddam, play in protecting minorities? At what price does this protection come at? Is discrimination of religious minorities worse under the state or under non-state actors?
A Christianity Today article written in 2011[8], shows why many Christians support the Assad regime. Syrian Christians had witnessed the effect of Saddam’s fall on the Iraqi Christian population, including 500,000 Christian refugees who had fled to Syria.[9] Though the Assad family ruled Syria with an “iron grip,” Christians have enjoyed significant protection, thus Christians were hesitant to support an uprising that could overthrow the regime that protects them and usher in an Islamic fundamentalist governance.[10] Despite numerous abuses on behalf of the regime, for Christians, their own security became paramount, and the regime seemed to be able to be the only one to provide that.[11] This directly relates to my own puzzle, why would people support a regime that tortures, kills, and restricts its own people? Does there always have to be a persecuted group in society? The situation in Iraq is mirrored years later in the events in Syria, as highlighted by this article. But it shows me, for my research, that this is not a one-time phenomenon.
A Human Rights Watch report from 2014, details the actions of the Islamic State against minority groups in Iraq.[12] The report writes of the killing, kidnapping, and threatening against Turkmen, Shabaks, Yazidis, and Christians around Mosul.[13] Living near the Islamic State as a minority could “cost you your livelihood, your liberty, or even your life.”[14] Human Rights Watch, in this 2014 report, details the numerous abuses of the Islamic State in numerous instances and against numerous sects. What distinction is there between these abuses and those under Saddam? How have anti-minority sentiments grown since Saddam? Has ISIS changed public sentiments towards minorities?
Penny Green and Tony Ward, in their article, “The Transformation of Violence in Iraq,”[15]explore types of violence in post-invasion Iraq, focusing especially on the decentralization of violence.[16] They argue that the state no longer hold the monopoly of violence and there is thus no distinction between violence serving the goals of the organization or for individual gratification.[17] Rather than being ruled by one dictator, Iraqis feel themselves as being ruled by multiple forces of evil, the democratization of violence.[18] ‘Leyla A.’ even goes as far as to say that things are worse now than they were under Saddam.[19] Although this article focuses on the persecution of women and the gay community in post-Saddam Iraq, this article can be applied to my own research in how Iraqis feel the violence has only been perpetuated in non-state actors. Was there really less violence under Saddam? How was Saddam able to maintain order? This article highlights how more groups and individuals have access to violence rather than one man controlling the whole country.Researchers should care about this because as a global power, the US often feels a need to intervene in situations it deems counter to our own values and safety. But how these impact minority groups
Researchers should care about this because as a global power, the US often feels a need to intervene in situations it deems counter to our own values and safety. But how these impact minority groups is of great significance. How can we counter authoritarian regimes without costing minority groups their lives/livelihood? How can we counter regimes without instigating more violence, especially against minority groups? Understanding the dynamics of social and religious stability under authoritarian regimes can help the US create better US foreign policy.
How do dictators ensure safety and protection of minority groups? How did the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq lead to greater persecution of the Christian minority?
[1] Jonathan Fox, “Religious Discrimination against Religious Minorities in Middle Eastern Muslim States,” Civil wars 15, no. 4 (December 2013): 454.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., 466.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid., 467.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Dale Gavlak in Amman Morgan Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon, and Timothy C., “Syria’s Christians Back Assad,” ChristianityToday.Com, accessed September 30, 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/july/syria-christians-assad.html.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Human Rights Watch | 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor | New York, and NY 10118-3299 USA | t 1.212.290.4700, “Iraq: ISIS Abducting, Killing, Expelling Minorities,” Human Rights Watch, last modified July 19, 2014, accessed September 30, 2017, https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/19/iraq-isis-abducting-killing-expelling-minorities.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] P. Green, “The Transformation of Violence in Iraq,” British journal of criminology 49, no. 5 (September 2009): 609–627.
[16] Ibid., 609.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid., 621.
[19] Ibid.
Bibliography
Avenue, Human Rights Watch | 350 Fifth, 34th Floor | New York, and NY 10118-3299 USA | t 1.212.290.4700. “Iraq: ISIS Abducting, Killing, Expelling Minorities.” Human Rights Watch. Last modified July 19, 2014. Accessed September 30, 2017. https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/19/iraq-isis-abducting-killing-expelling-minorities.
Fox, Jonathan. “Religious Discrimination against Religious Minorities in Middle Eastern Muslim States.” Civil wars 15, no. 4 (December 2013): 454–470.
Green, P. “The Transformation of Violence in Iraq.” British journal of criminology 49, no. 5 (September 2009): 609–627.
Morgan, Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon, and Timothy C. “Syria’s Christians Back Assad.” ChristianityToday.Com. Accessed September 30, 2017. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/july/syria-christians-assad.html.
Rachel — overall you are off to a very good start here with both a good empirical foundation for the puzzle and a good start to examining different theoretical lenses (government regulation, leadership, decentralization of violence, etc.) that will be useful to you as you work towards a literature review and as you continue to think about the puzzle and the concepts contained within it. Your draft questions are a good starting point, though I would push you to think a bit about the assumptions in the first question “How do dictators ensure safety and protection of minority groups?” (do they, in fact, do this? If so, it it simply because they are dictators and control the monopoly of force?). More broadly, start thinking about how you would conceptualize and operationalize the idea of “safety and protection of minority groups” in different ways.
There is a large literature on non-democratic regimes (see Linz & Stepan, “Modern Nondemocratic Regimes” to start) that, back in the 70s and 80s, worked on tracing out the different types of regimes that were not democratic (pointing out that just thinking in terms of “authoritarian regimes” or “dictators” as all the same was problematic) and the different features that made these each unique/possible. You might investigate some of this comparative politics literature as you continue your research. Keep up the good work, and we can discuss some other suggestions and next steps when we meet!