Post-Saddam Iraq: The first ten years

It is almost ten years since Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces at a farmhouse outside Tikrit, following the swift collapse of his Ba'athist regime. This week, a conference will bring together leading Iraqi public figures with experts from the University and beyond to explore today's Iraq and the challenges it faces a decade on. Our Iraqi speakers hail from almost all sides of the political spectrum, and are prepared to sit together on our panels - Michael Clark, conference co-convenor Ten years ago today, UN Security Council Resolution 1511 unanimously sanctioned a long-term international presence in Iraq - effectively handing control of the country to Washington. This week, a conference at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRAASH), will bring together leading Iraqi politicians and public figures with academics to discuss the challenges facing modern Iraq both inside and outside its borders - from sectarianism and oil export programmes to the aftershock of the 'Arab Spring', and not least the continued violence within Iraqi society: According to the Iraqi government, September of this year accounted for 971 civilian deaths caused by insurgents - the highest for five years. So why isn't post-Saddam Iraq working? And what can be done to help stabilise a country that has seen untold bloodshed and social upheaval for decades? 'Iraq: A Decade of New Governance' will run on the 18 and 19 October, and promises to weave together salient themes from a wide range of disciplines, from politics to anthropology by way of everything from history, economics, law and sociology to try and address these critical questions so often brushed over by Western politicians.