Resources
Articles and Commentary
Here you will find a selection of articles and commentary by Zaid on a number of issues, including political, legal and security developments in Iraq. Zaid has also published widely on the effort to reform Arab constitutions since the start of the Arab uprisings in early 2011, and has written commentaries on Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, amongst others.
Academic Articles
Zaid has published a number academic articles on Iraq and constitutional reform, many of which have been included in edited volumes on constitutional law. A selection of these articles are included here. In his academic writings, Zaid focuses on the impact that external influence and external actors can have on national constitution drafting processes. Also published here for the first time is a detailed step by step history of the Iraqi constitution drafting process that was prepared during 2005 and finalized in December of that year.
Iraq’s Constitution
This section makes available to the public for the first time a large number of drafts that were prepared by drafters and other officials in 2005 when the constitution was negotiated and drafted. The Arabic originals were given to Zaid Al-Ali as they were prepared throughout 2005; the English translations were either prepared by Zaid, or widely circulated in Iraq and abroad by the media or other sources at the time.
Iraq’s Environment
Iraq’s environment has been collapsing at an alarming rate for the past few decades, but the effects of that collapse have become particularly apparent since 2003. The country has now become prone to drought, desertification, devastating dust storms and floods. The documents presented here clearly establish that these developments were predicted as early as 2001, and that close to nothing has been done to reverse the current trend or to mitigate its effects on Iraq’s population.