Baghdad Conference II and the Possibility of Fruitful Outcomes

Karzan Kawsin

On December 20th, the second Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership mediated by France ,was held in Jordan. It mainly involved the issues of security and stabilization of Iraq whose issues are closely connected to those of the middle east as a whole.
Nowadays, Iraq is suffering from two expanding challenges to its national and food security. The first is the frequent Turkish military incursions in Syria and Iraq. The second is the climate change worsened by geopolitics. It seems that these two challenges are closely intertwined.
For a long time now, Iraq has been battered by one natural disaster after another, it is classified as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change, according to the UN. Iraqis already face with the repercussions of the heat, draught and desertification which is being reflected in the reduction of water of the two main rivers in the country. The Tigris, the lifeline linking the main cities of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra, has been suffocated by dams, most of them upstream in Turkey, and decreasing rainfall. Farming communities in Iraq have seen their wheat, vegetable, and fruit harvests decline for the second year in a row because of severe drought conditions. This problem has also affected the livestock of those communities. Consequently, households throughout the country would be increasingly vulnerable to worn incomes and challenges accessing sufficient food” warned the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Iraq is not only a victim of climate change but also geopolitics, as the neighbors might use the water sources as leverage in their demands on the country.
Turkey’s military incursion in Syria and Iraq has been mainly justified by PKK’s presence and operation across the border. The Turkish frequent border operations has not decreased over the years now, believing that Iraq had not been cooperative in pushing PKK’s militants out of the country. In this respect, Turkey could still hold a grudge during conferences on Iraq security.
There is no doubt that recent ISIS attack on the Iraqi federal police reminds of the group’s continuous threat in the area which should be tackled by increasing security cooperation. Perhaps any escalation on the countries’ borders means a facilitation for ISIS regrouping and arranging for further attacks in Iraq.
The summit aimed to provide support for the stability, security and prosperity of Iraq, according to the French presidency statement, adding it hopes this will benefit the entire region. Still, there is a chance that both Turkey and Iran do not just fight their alleged enemies for their countries’ peace, but also attempt to distract the eyes from their internal unrest.
After the conference, Iraq will be in front of a test to find out whether it can depend on its conference ties to reduce the weight of the above mentioned challenges. Otherwise, those challenges and perhaps more of the kind, could move on to the third conference, if there ever be one.
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1 - https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/uk-and-canada-commit-combating-climate-change-iraq-enarku
2- https://www.nrc.no/news/2022/october/iraq-drought-crisis-destroys-income-and-crops-country-wide/