GOVERNANCE AND THE SHIITE POLITICAL MOVEMENT IN IRAQ

Shortly after the death of prophet Muhammad in 632, the Shiite movement in Islam began and found an encouraging political climate to promote its growth and continuation as an opposition force to the successive political entities in the region of the Middle East. In Iraq, the Shiite political movement gained significance shortly after the creation of the modern state of Iraq in 1920 by the British colonial power. Although it was effective in its impact on the populace, the movement failed to gain a significant role in the making of the Iraqi political dynamics. The importance of the Shiite political movement in Iraq, however, changed after the collapse of the Iraqi Baath Party regime in 2003. This movement has emerged as a viable force in the construction of post-war Iraq and in the contribution to the progress of U.S. policy toward Iraq. This paper presents the historical development of Shiism in Islam as a whole and the trajectory of Shiism in contemporary Iraq as an opposition political movement in particular. In doing so, the paper uncovers several myths surrounding this movement that enabled it to