This is a strange time in Iraq. Local actors and regional powers are watching each other and the Americans, waiting to see what the US election will bring. For their part, the Americans are hoping against hope that the present lull in violence is the sign of an emerging order rather than one of the many illusory 'tipping points' that they have imagined during the last five years. Meanwhile, Nouri al-Maliki's government is trying to persuade itself and the country at large that its forces' recent assaults on Basra, Mosul and Sadr City in Baghdad have established its authority, restoring the awe of the state that was so spectacularly lost in 2003.

LRB 17 July 2008 | PDF Download