The Al-Zaydi Government and the Future of Iraq’s Political Order

The quality of the Al-Zaydi government’s relationship with resistance groups will be one of the central tests facing Iraq’s new cabinet. Although Washington initially welcomed the government’s formation, American demands to disarm these groups could become a fundamental security challenge.

The cabinet rests on a fragile coalition divided between competing political camps. Strengthening the Coordination Framework as a body that defines and supervises strategic policy could limit pressure to concede to Washington. In any sustainable arrangement, resistance groups must be understood not as rivals to formal institutions, but as contributors to Iraq’s existing security structure.