Shock and Awe: The U.S. Led Invasion and the Struggle of Iraq’s Non-Muslim
Minorities
Arkan Kazal, MA
The University of Texas at Austin, 2019
Supervisor: Kamran S. Aghaie
https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/76209/KAZAL-THESIS-2019.pdf?sequence=1

Abstract
This paper examines the transformations that took place in the discourse of Iraq’s
non-Muslim minorities after the U.S. led invasion in 2003. By looking at the first three
years of the invasion, this research captures the emergence of sectarian identities among
Iraq’s Mandaeans and Christians. Relying on never-before examined evidence, this paper
argues that the invasion caused these minorities to adopt clear sectarian tendencies as a
reaction to a political environment that was becoming less secular every day. While all
members of these two groups did not share similar political views, most of them started
expressing themselves politically based on sectarian grounds.