Baghdad has a ‘power-sharing and trust issue,’ says American scholar David Romano
sub: “I think when you see Baghdad always trying to centralize power it's because they don't trust the other communities,” Dr. Romano said.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Dr. David Romano, a professor at the Thomas G. Strong School for Middle East Politics at Missouri State University, on Tuesday told Kurdistan 24 on the sidelines of MEPS 2023 that something “has to be done correctly to solve the [Kurdish] issue.”
Regarding the Erbil-Baghdad conflict, Romano noted that Baghdad has a “power-sharing and trust issue” among different political communities throughout Iraq, including the Kurds.
“I think when you see Baghdad always trying to centralize power it's because they don't trust the other communities,” he said and added, “They never adopted the mentality of federalism and you have to ask what is the mentality of federalism. It's that we have too many differences to have a strong central government.”
Moreover, the professor pointed out that “some important political parties in Iraq under Iranian influence have decided it is in their interest to very much weaken the autonomy of the Kurdistan Region to the point where federalism becomes a meaningless term.”
He also explained that different parts of Kurdistan have different possibilities and “There's no question about the existence of the Kurds in Iraq. There's a recognition of them. There's cultural and linguistic autonomy. There's been progress and I don't think that should be forgotten.”
Romano is a renowned expert on the Middle East. He has published research on issues related to the region and is a frequent commentator on international media. He is a key advisor to governments, international organizations, and NGOs. He also has authored numerous publications on the Kurds and the Middle East, including two books entitled ‘The Kurdish Nationalist Movement’ and ‘Conflict, Democratization, and the Kurds in the Middle East.’