The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) released a report on Engaging the Post-ISIS Iraqi Religious Landscape for Peace and Reconciliation. The report is part of the their Religious Landscape Mapping in Conflict-Affected States project that aims to fill an information gap for peacebuilding practitioners and diplomats working in conflict-affected states and equip them to tap into the influence of religious actors in peacebuilding and navigate the often complex, dynamic, and confusing religious landscape.
Authored by Ann Wainscott, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Miami University in Ohio, this report uses USIP’s mapping and assessment methodology to analyze more data from 175 interviews conducted across Iraq’s geographic and religious landscape. These interviews provide insight into the role of religious actors in reconciliation efforts in post-ISIS Iraq and how to effectively engage religious actors to help move the country toward peace.
This interview was conducted by Jeremy Barker, Senior Program Officer and Director of the Middle East Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, DC.
Religion & Diplomacy: What was the overall objective of the report?
Ann Wainscott: The religion team at the USIP undertakes research in conflict-affected areas to understand what role religion is playing in the conflict. Our goal is to identify the individuals, institutions, and ideas shaping conflict dynamics, public discourse, and social relations. While we know that religion is not the primary driver of most conflicts, we recognize that religious actors are leaders in their communities and key constituents in negotiating and implementing peace settlements. We therefore hope to help policymakers identify partners in the religious field, understand religious ideas that are shaping public conversations, and uncover subtle religious dynamics that may affect peace and reconciliation efforts.
We also wanted to highlight the voices of Iraqi citizens. We therefore use a large number of quotes throughout the report, allowing policymakers and researchers to hear directly from those we interviewed.
R&D: Gathering data to map religious actors in a complex and challenging environment like Iraq is difficult, how did this impact the production of the report? How representative is the report of Iraq’s religious landscape?
Wainscott: Our primary goal, above and beyond the objectives of the report, is the safety of the researchers with which we partner in Iraq. The project is therefore designed to mitigate any risks they would face in undertaking the project. First, we developed the question guide for our research in consultation with our researchers. In both phases of research we completed multiple focus groups with the researchers to allow them to modify the question guide. They eliminated questions and modified language as they felt was necessary for their own safety and for the success of the research.
Keep in mind that when we began our research, the Islamic State had not yet been defeated and was still active on the ground. Given concerns for researcher safety, as well as the low level of knowledge in the secondary literature on the religious field in Iraq, we therefore relied on semi-structured interviews with individuals already present in our researchers’ social network. In other words, the researchers were not approaching anyone with whom they did not have a pre-existing relationship.
They interviewed individuals who would be able to speak to the influence of religious actors, but who would not have a conflict of interest in answering our questions, individuals with knowledge of the religious landscape, but without a stake in documenting it. These individuals included members of non-profit organizations, educational institutions, activists, and in some cases, religious actors themselves. Researchers also attempted to include a wide range of demographics, people of different ages and genders, as well as interviewing a broad range of members of different religious groups. In the end, we interviewed more than 175 Iraqis from 12 different regions in the country and representing most religious traditions in the country.
Because of our decision to sample within our researchers’ existing social networks, individuals were not random-sampled. That means that you cannot extrapolate larger trends from our data to speak to how all Iraqis feel about any given issue. We were careful in how we reported our findings to prevent anyone from using our data in a misleading way. For example, we do not articulate how many individuals took particular positions.
R&D: What are some of the top-line takeaways from the report? What voices have influence? What are some of the surprising findings from the report?
Wainscott: Many of our findings supported existing knowledge. We knew already that Grand Ayatollah ‘Ali al-Sistani was the most influential religious actor in Iraq. However, we did not realize that the Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, was extremely influential among all religious communities, not just among Christian Iraqis. While his influence pales in comparison with that of Sistani, we were still under-estimating his level of influence.
Religious actors whose influence crosses sectarian lines are key figures in peace and reconciliation efforts, so finding actors with cross-sectarian appeal was key to our work. Another religious actor who is extremely influential but not well-known to American policymakers is a young up and coming Shia cleric named Ali Talqani. Talqani has an extremely influential social media presence, with hundreds of Youtube videos and a very active Facebook page.
Prior to the research, we were also underestimating the level of influence of religious TV programming. It is extremely important in Iraq, and is sect-specific. That is, every TV station that was identified from our research is aimed at a particular sect. Most sects even have particular TV stations that reflect trends or differing interpretations within them. The situation points to the need for a non-sectarian, non-devotional channel devoted to religious literacy in Iraq. There are currently no reliable ways to get information about other religious communities, nor to help get out accurate information when rumors are taking hold.
Another surprising finding was some of the low-level religious conflicts that were exacerbating communal tensions. In the North, there is a serious need for standardized certification of halal foods. Many minority butchers and food providers are angry that they do not have more Muslim customers, even if they have halal meats. They feel that they are discriminated against for not being Muslim themselves. Someone needs to standardize the identification of halal foods so that minority food service providers are able to benefit from a full customer base and Muslim consumers are able to eat halal foods without concern. This is obviously a conflict where religious actors could play a key role in de-escalating tensions.
R&D: While the report primarily focuses on those individuals and institutions with nationwide recognition, did the data provide any insights on the role of local faith actors? Minority religious actors? Women religious actors?
Wainscott: While we were able to collect data on local-level actors, we did not publish that information in the report. We do not want to draw attention to religious actors who are not well-known outside of their home communities. Our goal was to study the religious sector, not to play a role in shaping it. This meant that many of the women religious actors that we identified in the report went unnamed, since they were influential only at the local level. Most women who become influential religious actors do so in positions of leadership within educational institutions, and quite frankly, through family ties to influential male religious actors. The report identifies a number of influential religious actors within minority religious communities including the Christian, Sabean-Mandaean, and Yezidi communities.
R&D: The report asked about what roles and contributions interviewees wanted religious actors to play. What were these roles and are there any surprising takeaways from these results about the desired role of religious individuals and institutions?
Wainscott: There was a near unanimous call for religious actors to disengage from national-level politics. The Iraqis that we interviewed view involvement in politics as corrupting, and don’t want their religious actors involved in such efforts. Nevertheless, they do feel that religious actors have a key role to play in social or local-level reconciliation efforts, countering violent extremism and sectarianism, and correcting misperceptions about religious communities. I was personally surprised by the way that interviewees distinguished between local and national reconciliation efforts. It points to why this research is necessary. Without more fine-grained analysis, one could easily conclude that Iraqis don’t want religious leaders involved in reconciliation. But that’s not exactly true. They see them as key players in local level reconciliation efforts, but not at the national level.
R&D: The report makes a strong case for the value of engaging religious actors, even going so far as to say: “Although involving religious actors in reconciliation does not guarantee success, excluding them seems certain to guarantee failure.” What are some of the reasons that you see religious engagement as being so important?
Wainscott: Religious actors are a stable force in their communities. They do not come and go when conflict arises, and they stay in touch with their communities even in times of displacement. This makes them more consistent forces in their communities than most other kinds of elites, like economic elites or politicians. This contributes to the strong sense of legitimacy that many possess in their communities.
Religious actors also have a special set of tools for dealing with trauma – religious rituals, sacred texts, and experience being with people in difficult times, like death and illness. Finally, when they are respected, they can bring people together at one table who might otherwise be unable to dialogue. Since no other group in Iraq (and most conflict zones) possesses such a combination of skills and resources, they are key partners for peace.
On the flip side, we are all aware of situations where religious actors foiled peace processes. So beyond the important resources they can draw on, they can also work against peace if they feel excluded. This creates a double-imperative to include them.
R&D: What lessons can we draw from the ISIS / Post-ISIS experience of engaging with religious actors? Are these observations translatable for other contexts?
Wainscott: The experience from Iraq reminds us all that even when many other groups leave a country due to conflict, religious actors remain. Even in times of displacement, they find creative ways of staying connected to their communities. They are essential to the fabric of a community, and key partners for strengthening that social fabric after it has been torn. But religious actors’ unique position can also allow them to oppose or even spoil peace efforts from which they have been excluded. Their unique role needs to be respected, and mutually-beneficial partnerships built with them slowly over time. In some contexts, religious actors can also translate their influence quickly into political influence, so it is important to monitor the religious field for a variety of reasons.
R&D: How can these findings inform the work of diplomats and policy makers and aid and development practitioners as they engage in highly religious conflict-affected states?
Wainscott: In times of conflict, it can be tempting to move quickly, in an attempt to bring about an end to violence. But lasting solutions are born of methodical and often-times painstakingly slow efforts at building relationships and partnerships with key players. Long before a conflict is resolved, diplomats and development practitioners can begin cultivating relationships with key leaders across all sectors, including religious actors, but also economic, political and social actors. Looking for areas of shared interest, and keeping lines of communication open will long-term benefit all involved, even when there are serious and sustained disagreements about some issues.