All Politics is Local

The war in Iraq began five years ago this week. To mark the anniversary, War News Radio is preparing a set of shows that will explore the big questions still unanswered about the situation in Iraq. This week on War News Radio, we focus on local politics. We examine the structure of national and local government in Iraq, and see how things have changed since 2003. And, there are many groups working on local governance projects in Iraq, ranging from Provincial Reconstruction Teams to NGOs and private contractors. We find out about the challenges they've had teaming up. In our series A Day in the Life, we hear from Hidayat Ibrahim, a provincial administrator in Sulaimaniya. And, we speak with Abbas Mehdi, a former chairman of Iraq's National Investment Commission, about his experiences trying to coordinate local and national government projects. Finally, we consider the outlook for local government in Iraq, and how things might change as a result of Iraq's new provincial powers act. These stories this week from War News Radio.