Thanassis Cambanis

Influential armed groups continue to confound policymakers, diplomats, and analysts decades after their transformational arrival on the scene in the Middle East and North Africa. The most effective of these militias can most usefully be understood as hybrid actors, which simultaneously work through, with, and against the state. This joint report from The Century Foundation identifies the factors that make some hybrid actors persistent and successful, as measured by longevity, influence, and ability to project power militarily as well as politically. It finds that three factors correlate most closely with impact: constituent loyalty, resilient state relationships, and coherent ideology. The authors of this report examined cases in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, drawing on years of fieldwork, to distinguish hybrid actors, classic nonstate proxies, and aspirants to statehood?all of which merit different analytical and policy treatment. The report demonstrates the ways that groups can shift along a spectrum as they adapt to changing conditions.

Shia politics roared to the center of power in Iraq after the U. S. invasion in 2003 after decades of marginalization under Saddam Hussein. A new generation of clerics and politicians, self-described as Shia Islamists, promised a revolution in law and governance. The meaning of Shia Islamism today is murkier than ever. A confusing array of factions all wear the label, which does nothing to explain their positions on questions ranging from sectarianism to the role of faith in politics to any of Iraq's manifold pressing crises of governance. Shia Power Comes of Age: The Transformation of Islamist Politics in Iraq, 2003-2023 maps the radical transformation of Shia Islamist politics in Iraq over the last two decades. Researchers deeply steeped in Iraq's Shia communities, clerics, and politicians analyze the significance of the new status quo politics for Islamists and sectarian movements farther afield. Contributors include Taif AlKhudary, Ali Al-Mawlawi, Marsin Alshamary, Haley Bobseine, Thanassis Cambanis, Maria Fantappie, Fanar Haddad, Sajad Jiyad, Renad Mansour, and Ben Robin-D'Cruz. About the editors: Thanassis Cambanis is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation and director of Century International. Sajad Jiyad is a fellow at Century International and director of Iraq Bridge in Baghdad.