Dr. Abdul Karim Kadhim Ajil / Dean of the Higher Institute for Leadership Preparation and Qualification
With the new Iraqi government gaining a vote of confidence, a fundamental question emerges: What kind of foreign policy does Iraq need in light of accumulated domestic crises and escalating regional tensions?
This question appears political on its surface, but it is in fact a question linked to the future of the Iraqi state itself, because the world is rapidly shifting from the era of traditional geopolitics to the era of geoeconomics, where trade corridors, supply chains, energy, and technology have become instruments of power no less influential than armies and military alliances.
Amidst this global transformation, Iraq stands before a rare strategic moment, as it possesses all the assets that qualify it to transform into a regional economic power: a geographical location connecting the Gulf to Turkey, Europe, and Asia; one of the largest oil reserves in the world; a large market; a significant Arab and regional depth; and a young workforce capable of leading digital and productive transformation. However, Iraq’s historical problem has not been a lack of capabilities, but rather the absence of a vision that transforms this potential into an integrated state project. Perhaps the most precise expression of this situation is what Prime Minister Al-Zaidi said in the first session of the Council of Ministers, when he described the Iraqi economic reality by saying: “We have two economies: a traditional economy that refuses to die, and a modern economy that refuses to be born.”
In fact, this phrase was not merely an economic description, but rather a characterization of a historical transitional phase that Iraq is experiencing between two models of the state: a rentier state formed around oil, spending, consumption, and public employment, and a new state that has not yet been born, which is supposed to be based on production, investment, knowledge, and smart integration into the global economy. Here specifically, the concept of “development diplomacy” emerges as the most appropriate framework for Iraqi foreign policy in the coming phase; that is, linking foreign policy to supreme national economic interests, and transforming diplomacy from a tool for managing crises and balances into a tool for producing development and building national power. For Iraq does not need today a foreign policy driven by a reactive approach, but rather a foreign policy whose success is measured by the extent of what it achieves in terms of investments, technology, job opportunities, trade corridors, energy networks, markets, and long-term development partnerships. The essence of development diplomacy is based on a simple yet profound equation: every external opening must translate into added value for the Iraqi economy. Hence, the proposed development diplomacy for Iraq is based on an interconnected strategic triad.
Download PDF
