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Iraq's Shi'a warriors : from battlefield to parliament / Inna Rudolf.

De Gruyter Manchester University Press 2026 eBook-Package Available online

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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Rudolf, Inna (Dr), author.
Series:
Identities and Geopolitics in the Middle East Series
Identities and geopolitics in the Middle East
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Hashd al-Shaabi.
Shiites--Iraq--Political activity.
Shiites.
Paramilitary forces--Iraq.
Paramilitary forces.
Iraq.
Iraq--Militia--Political activity.
Iraq--Politics and government.
Physical Description:
1 online resource : digital file(s).
Edition:
1st ed.
Place of Publication:
Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press, 2026.
Language Note:
In English.
System Details:
data file
Biography/History:
Dr. Inna Rudolf is a Fellow at the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS) and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Divided Societies in the Department of War Studies, King's College London.
Summary:
This book explores how Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Units have evolved from battlefield actors into powerful political and social stakeholders, crafting legitimacy across Iraq's political, religious, and civic spheres. It challenges the proxy warfare narrative, offering an analysis of their complex, locally rooted identity and domestic ambitions.
Contents:
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright information
Dedication
Contents
Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Dissecting Iraq's polymorphous statehood
Legitimacy amidst oligopoly on violence
Devolving violence to auxiliaries
The primacy of traditional and charismatic authority
Generating legitimacy
On the value of shared beliefs
Paramilitarism in heterarchical orders
Which definition fits the Iraqi context?
Why do states use paramilitaries?
The PMU's rationality
Navigating the heterarchy
Contextualising the Hashd's status within the state
Leveraging the Bourdieuian toolkit
Unpacking the PMU's practices
Identifying key roles embraced by the PMUs in their pursuit of legitimacy
Data collection
Notes
Chapter 1: The pioneers of the mobilisation's vanguard
Badr
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq
Ḥaraka Ḥizballāh al-Nujabā'
Kata'ib Hezbollah
Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada
Saraya al-Khorasani
Kata'ib al-Imam Ali
Kata'ib Tayyar al-Risali
Conclusion
Chapter 2: The institutionalisation of the PMU
Entry points into the political field
Entry points into the religious field
Entry points into the civic field
The structure of the PMU
The Iran-aligned camp
Al-Sadr's peace brigades
The shrine brigades
Implications of the PMU's institutionalisation
Part I: The political field
Chapter 3: The protector of the state (al-Ḥāris)
Filling in the security vacuum
Rubber-stamping the responsibility to protect
Pursuing state-oriented institutionalisation
Managing the PMU's pro-state government challengers
Consolidating the PMU's security mandate
Chapter 4: The entrepreneur (al-Mubādir)
The PMU and political entrepreneurship
Contesting the electoral process.
The PMU's path to the ballot box
Making up for electoral miscalculations
Infiltrating the state's bureaucracy
Capturing state-owned enterprises
The PMU and partisan politics
The PMU and the Fatah coalition
The PMU and al-Sadr's movement
The PMU and al-Kadhimi's administration
The PMU and al-Sudani's administration
Part II: The religious field
Chapter 5: The holy warrior (al-Muqaddas)
A multifaceted religious mandate
The Sadrists within the PMU
The resistance factions
Chapter 6: The resistance force (al-Muqāwim)
The PMU's ties to Iran
The historical bond
The religious links
The PMU and the 'Axis of Resistance'
The PMU's attitude towards the IRGC
The PMU's attitude towards the Hezbollah
The PMU's attitude towards the Assad regime
PMU's attitude towards the Houthi rebels
Shared antagonisms
Anti-Americanism
Condemnation of Israel
Animosity towards Saudi Arabia
Part III: The civic field
Chapter 7: The 'inclusive' guard (al-Shāmil)
Sunni mobilisation within the PMU
The tribal hashd
Sunnis in the Shiʿa ranks
The mobilisation of Iraq's minorities
Chapter 8: The service provider (al-Khādim)
The PMU's humanitarian engagement
Martyrs' families and wounded fighters
Facilitating the return of internally displaced individuals
Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD)
Humanitarian supplies provision and technical assistance
Disaster relief
Waste abatement
Medical care and COVID-19 response
The Hashd brand: an aggregate of practices
Lessons for addressing 'hybrid' actors
Whither the Hashd?
Selected interviews
Index.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on publisher-supplied metadata; resource not viewed.
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
ISBN:
1-5261-9305-1
1-5261-9307-8
9781526193056
OCLC:
1579001235

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