Doctoral Dissertation of Filip Sommer, Ph.D. – Governance in Iraq’s Disputed Territories

Date of publication: December 1, 2025

Ph.D. thesis: Territorial Governance and Conflict in Iraq’s Disputed Internal Boundaries

The doctoral dissertation Territorial Governance and Its Impact on Local Conflict Resolution – Case Studies of Iraq’s Disputed Territories of Filip Sommer, Director of the Prague Center for Middle East Relations (PCMR), examines territorial governance, power competition, and conflict-resolution mechanisms in Iraq’s disputed territories / Disputed Internal Boundaries (DIBs). These areas represent one of the most sensitive and strategically significant issues in post-conflict Iraq, marked by intersecting political, ethnic, security, and institutional fragmentation.

The research analyzes four key areas, Sinjar, the Nineveh Plains, Kirkuk, and Khanaqin. It traces how state, regional, and non-state actors create parallel systems of governance, security structures, and local authority. The dissertation focuses particularly on:

• the dynamics between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),
• the role of non-state armed actors (such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, or the Popular Mobilization Forces, PMF) and their influence on local governance,
• the effects of post-war security-sector reconfiguration,
• the local negotiations that shape the everyday functioning of communities living in these territories.

The aim is to explain why governance paralysis persists in the DIBs, how power and uncertainty are reproduced, and which factors could contribute to a more stable governance model in these areas. The findings offer a fresh perspective on the relationship between the state, local communities, and armed actors in Iraq.