The Power of Narratives in Conflict and Peace: the Case of Contemporary Iraq

The recent history of iraq has been difficult. since the regime of saddam hussein in particular, deep divisions in iraqi society have been aggravated, culminating in the effective partition of the country into three separate and mutually hostile entities a decade after hussein was ousted, in 2014.1 these three entities include areas controlled by the iraqi government, territories controlled by the so-called islamic state (is), and the region controlled by the government of the kurdistan autonomous region. like in many conflicts around the world, in the iraqi case the development of antagonistic narratives between in- and out-groups was crucial to fuelling and igniting the violence. as will be described, over a relatively short period historical events gave rise to three different kinds of narratives which defined the relationships between these groups; victimhood narratives, divisive narratives, and violent narratives. together these narratives legitimated and promoted the violent conflict that would ensue. with a focus, therefore, on the population of sunni confession, the first part of this paper will focus on how such narratives were expressed amongst ordinary iraqi citizens during the period leading up to and during the culmination of violence in 2014.