This event will be the launch of Simona Foltyn's latest paper Protectors of the State? The Popular Mobilisation Forces During the 2022 Post-Election Crisis published by the LSE Middle East Centre and PeaceRep.
This paper examines the role that the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) played during the 2022 post-election crisis in Iraq. The paper focuses on the armed clashes between the PMF and rival forces led by Shiʿa cleric Moqtada al-Sadr that took place inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on 29–30 August 2022. It sheds light on the PMF’s level of institutionalisation six years after its foundation.
Simona Foltyn is a journalist and filmmaker who has been based in Baghdad since 2018. She specialises in accountability and investigative reporting, with a focus on armed conflict, social justice, corruption and abuse of power. From 2019–2021, she was Al Jazeera’s Iraq correspondent. Her work has been published by PBS NewsHour, France24, the Guardian, Foreign Policy Magazine, Politico Magazine, the Intercept amongst others.
Toby Dodge is a Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE where he is Deputy Head of the Department (PhD and Research). He is also Kuwait Professor and Director of the Kuwait Programme at the LSE Middle East Centre.
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