Potential Conflicts Among and Predictions About the Shiite in Iraq

Iraq is about to become an internal zone of conflict of the Shiite. On one side, there is Shiite militia that has started to show power under the name of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in the last two years. On the other side, there are Shiite political parties and forces that use this militia for their political purposes. It is foreseen that these conflicts may involve even Shiite religious authority, institutions and organizations. There are two more factors that increase the possibility of a conflict among the Shiite. The first one is the chaos in economy, politics and security in Iraq. The second factor is about the expectations for a new political system in Iraq in the following term. In this study, the predictions about a possible conflict among the Shiite will be evaluated on three dimensions: armed conflict, political conflict and religious conflict.