Place: Al-Rafidain Centre for Dialogue  (RCD).

Lecturer: Ambassador Luqman Al-Fili, former Iraqi Ambassador to the United States.

Moderator: Dr. Talib Mohammed Karim, Board Member of RCD.

Introduction:

As part of its activities aimed at discussing the political situation in Iraq, RCD hosted Ambassador Luqman Al-Fili, Iraq's former ambassador to the United States, in a panel discussion called "Iraq's path amid regional and international changes", in the presence of a distinguished elite of clerics, academics and politicians in Najaf. The lecturer reviewed the most important problems facing Iraq at the strategic level in terms of the absence of state philosophy in Iraq, poor diplomatic performance, lack of influence of elites and lack of founding parents of the new political system after 2003, as well as the interventions and discussions that took place in the panel on issues related to the role of Religious Authority in the political system after 2003 and the nature of the strategic thinking of Iraqi politicians and other related topics.

Below are its most important outcoms:

1-      People's priorities vary depending on the nature of the problems they face, for example, the priority of combating terrorism among Iraqis is not the same as a priority for the rest of the people in other countries which their priority can be related to the climate change or nuclear proliferation, and understanding those priorities is a necessity to know how to deal with others.

2-      Understanding others must be done by reading their sources directly and understanding the nature of their thinking and their realistic and real vision of us because it helps to truly understand their policies and strategies towards Iraq and the region in general.

3-       When Iraqis' priorities match those of other countries, policies must be adopted that will enable that match to be invested in the interest of Iraq, but unfortunately this is not the case in Iraq, for example, the Donor Conference was held in Kuwait late in the fight against terrorism in Iraq.

4-      Iraq has a lot of strengths in the Middle East, it represents a meeting place for ethnic ideological dialogue because of the diversity of its components, and at the same time there are weaknesses associated with Iraq, such as the view of Iraq as a country producing problems in the region, a view that is not limited to the nature of Saddam's regime, but is regarded by some as a distinctive feature of Iraqis.

5-       One of the most important weaknesses in Iraqi politics is the matter of how quickly to forget crises and overcome them and not to know their causes and study their future effects, as happened with the crisis of "ISIS" as its page was folded without studying and analyzing it and examining its future effects.

6-      There is a weakness in Iraq's diplomatic movement, as it does not meet the requirements of the current phase in such a way that it can overcome crises or formulate future policies that guarantee Iraq's long-term interests.

7-      The democratic legitimacy of the next parliament and the next government will be incomplete for two reasons: first, the low turnout in the Iraqi elections is 44 percent, according to the official announcement of the Independent High Electoral Commission and 35 percent according to some foreign estimates, and the second is the position of the Religious Authority of the recent elections, which considered the election a right and not a duty.

8-       Iraqi society is devoid of influential elite that can bring about social change leading to political change that will help overcome the country's problems.

9-      Since the change of the political system in Iraq in 2003 to the present, there are no elements for a genuine national dialogue that produces a social contract that lays the foundations for the Iraqi state, and the total crisis and unrest that Iraq has been going through now calls for a philosophy to build a new and viable state.

10-   At the beginning of its inception, the state needs founding parents who have altruism, and therefore because the paternity and patronage of the founding fathers inspires and nurtures the state to reach a level where it can continue and remain on sound foundations as with the United States, but in Iraq, the Grand Ayattollah Sayed Al-Sistani was the only one who played the role of patron father of the political process in Iraq after 2003.

11-   States adopt their policies based on studies, research and a true understanding of the other, and do not build policies on the basis of theories of historical inevitability or destiny and other theories that have failed to build states and societies.

12-     There has been no peaceful transfer of power in the true sense in terms of the precise democratic concept of peaceful transition, and Iraq’s social system is unable to create political leaders, but is only able to produce managers at best.

13-   One of the drawbacks of Iraqis is to simplify complexities and crises, but what is done globally is to manage complexity, not simplify it.

14-     The problems between the Iraqi components are still going on and must be studied and understood scientifically well, if the end of the crisis of ISIS represented the last problems between Sunnis and Shiites, the referendum on the region on secession represents the beginning of Arab-Kurdish problems, and this calls for standing there and resolving them thoughtfully.

15-   The focus and blame in Iraq is always on those officials and not the issues, and the failures of the executive, legislature and judiciary authorities go unpunished.

16-    Focus on the breadth of the elite, not just the depth of the elite, in order to influence and interact seriously to strengthen democratic ties and lay the successful foundations for the democratic construction of the modern Iraqi state.

17-   The moral, value and intellectual foundations are the basis for the success and development of any society, and this is therefore reflected in the nature of political parties that are supposed to meet the aspirations and embrace the morals and values of the entire segments of society.

18-    We do not have the culture of crossing and closing stages as quickly as in regional and international countries in order to engage diplomatically with the American, for example, we should not make him feel guilty about occupying Iraq after 2003 because he does not feel guilty about the failure of the culture of crossing, and studying it and identifying its negatives from his point of view and his own interest, and thus closing this stage towards new stages.