Africa & Middle East

Iraq

Political journey

Created from Ottoman provinces under a British mandate in the 1920s, Iraq became a republic after a 1958 coup and was ruled by the Baath party, most notoriously by Saddam Hussein from 1979 to 2003. The 2003 US-led invasion toppled him but brought insurgency, sectarian civil war and the rise of Islamic State. It now has a sect-based democracy in which Shia parties and Iran-linked militias hold great influence.

Iraq today

Its current leader’s position on the ten Caucus dimensions.

💰EconomyLeaning free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityLeaning authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceLeaning strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionLeaning religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismCentered on interventionism
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads Iraq today

Portrait of Ali al-Zaidi

Ali al-Zaidi

Prime Minister of Iraq, 2026 to present

A banker and businessman with no earlier government experience, chosen as a compromise by Iraq’s Shia governing bloc in 2026, who has promised to rein in militias and court US investment.

Ali al-Zaidi sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: leaning free market and leaning authoritarian. The clearest positions are leaning free market on economy, leaning authoritarian on liberty and authority and leaning traditional on culture. The profile is close to the middle on interventionism.

Full profile of Ali al-Zaidi →

Political views closest to Iraq’s leadership

Liberal conservatismCombines free markets and limited government with respect for institutions, tradition…97%CorporatismOrganizes society into industry and professional bodies that bargain with the state, an…97%One-nation conservatismA paternalist conservatism holding that the better off owe duties to the poor and to…96%Confucian meritocracyPrefers rule by educated, moral officials chosen by merit over competitive elections.95%

Other people from Iraq

Saddam Hussein President of Iraq, 1979 to 2003

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

HondurasAmericas99%ParaguayAmericas99%JamaicaAmericas99%LibyaAfrica & Middle East99%

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.