The P-WW’s Editor discusses the Iraqi university system at war in Le Monde Diplomatique, to mark the ten-year anniversary of the 2003 invasion: “The vast majority of the Iraqi academics feel that it is the US and its coalition allies’ responsibility to take constructive measures to offset the years of sanctions, invasion and occupation. Such actions would restore Iraq’s academic landscape to levels equal to those that existed in 1980. The 2003 invasion promised intellectual freedom and safety to academics. Leaders in Baghdad and the West should renew their commitment to that pledge.”
This paper is based on preliminary research conducted for a multi-year, multi-institutional project by academics at the University of Chicago, Brown University, the London School of Economics, Al Jazeera, the Los Angeles Times, and across Iraq to understand how the Iraqi universities fell, and tell the human stories connected to this tragedy. Such knowledge would open a new angle on the country’s recent political and social experience in a volatile region. Follow this work on Facebook and @PostWarWatch.
