Political instability has characterised the modern history of Iraq, which has proven itself as a complex state to govern. However, the creation of a federal system in 2005 offers the potential for change and a deviation from a past characterised by authoritarian government, brutality and war.

The Iraqi Federation explores why and how Iraq became a federal state, and analyses how the process of formation impacts on the operation of the Iraqi federal system. It argues that the different approaches taken by various federal theorists in the past, particularly...