Iraq could face another summer of bloodshed

Iraq could face another summer of bloodshed

Hundreds of protesters converged on the streets of the southern Iraqi city of Basra last week. Demonstrators across the province are calling for structural change to fix rampant corruption, a stagnant economy, high unemployment and underfunded public utilities. Protests in Iraq are common, but last summer's demonstrations saw an escalation into violence. Hundreds were wounded and killed, and many thousands more were arrested after clashes with police forces. Government buildings were set on fire, and the province was on the edge of revolt. Despite the violence, little has changed. The government still suffers from mismanagement and fraud. The country's elite have done little to improve conditions for the lower classes. As temperatures creep closer to 50°C and the struggling electrical grid and fresh water supply are strained, many question whether the protests will spiral into similar violence. On this week's episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Campbell MacDiarmid speaks with Dr Renad Mansour, a research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, and Belkis Wille, the senior Iraq researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. Read more on our website:

Episoder(478)

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How can anyone feel safe in Lebanon after the deadly pager attacks?

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What is left after decade of conflict in Yemen?

Ten years ago, on September 21, 2014, Yemen’s Houthi rebels took over the capital city of Sanaa from government rule. Months later, a Saudi-led coalition intervened to support the internationally reco...

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The challenges in containing a looming polio outbreak in Gaza

Children’s lives in Gaza are riddled with uncertainty. They don’t know when the next bomb will fall, where their next meal will come from or even if their families and friends are still alive. Now, an...

23 Aug 202422min

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How Israeli prisons became 'a network of torture camps'

In recent weeks, human rights organisations and media investigations have documented the worsening conditions in Israeli prisons over the past 10 months. They reveal beatings and other forms of brutal...

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Olympic fanfare has swept across Paris in recent weeks, but there is an elephant in the room that’s difficult to ignore – the glaring disparity between France hosting one of the most multicultural eve...

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The weight of Israel and Hezbollah’s warfare on life in Lebanon

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On Tuesday, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier in the skies over Lebanon, a stunt timed to coincide with Hassan Nasrallah’s speech amid a series of threats by Hezbollah towards Israel and vice ...

8 Aug 202422min

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