Call for Papers:
2nd Iraq Political Science Day (30 June 2026)
The Center for Policy Research at the College of International Studies, American University of Iraq – Baghdad will host the 2nd Iraq Political Science Day conference on 30 June 2026. Scholars, researchers, faculty and students from all over Iraq, including Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as international scholars working on Iraq, are invited to present their research.
The Iraqi Political Science Day aims to bring this fragmented academic landscape into greater exchange with one another. The Iraq Political Science Day is jointly organized by political science and international relations departments from different universities in Iraq. It aims at strengthening the exchange of students, researchers, and teachers. The format of an academic workshop allows BA, MA, and PhD students to present their theses and to discuss them with peers and faculty members. Researchers and students from other universities, including those outside Iraq, are also invited if they are working on Middle Eastern affairs in general and Iraqi topics in particular. Regarding students and researchers from Iraq, this thematic restriction is not given and we explicitly welcome all topics of Political Science, International Relations, Political Economy, and Political Theory including multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches.
Since English is becoming more and more important both as a language of instruction at Iraqi universities and as an international academic language in political science, the conference will be held in English.
Submission should include a 300-400 word abstract and a short bio (max. 100 words) with contact information (e-mail) by e-mail to politicalscienceday@auib.edu.iq.
Deadline for Abstract submission: 14th May, 2026
The Academic Committee, consisting of faculty members from all organizing universities, will then decide by 21st May and inform you whether your abstract has been accepted.
Selected participants are expected to submit a research paper with 5,000-6,000 words by June 20th, This will be presented in a 15-minute session, followed by 20-minute discussion on June 30th.
There will be no automatic publication of the articles of this conference, but there will be a possibility of getting in contact with scientific journals and we consider publishing the best contributions in a conference volume by AUIB Press. If you want to get published in the conference volume, please follow the stylesheet of the sage journals for your paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/pnz#Manuscriptstyle
Suggested Conference Themes:
Panel 1. Governance, Sovereignty, and Regional Politics
Panel 2. Historical Legacies and Global Entanglements
Panel 3. Extremism, Genocide, and Justice
Panel 4. Education Systems and Social Contracts
Panel 5. Climate, Environment, and Infrastructure
Panel 6. Discussion Panels
- The U.S.–Israel–Iran Conflict: Reshaping the Middle East Order
- The Role of Parliamant in Iraq
The Scientific Committee Members:
- Dr Ammar Taha (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research)
- Dr Firas Abas (University of Basra)
- Dr Hesham (University of Baghdad)
- Dr Jalal Hasan Mistaffa (University of Sulaimani)
- Dr Khairullah Sabhan (University of Mosul)
- Dr Martin Beck ( University of Kurdistan Hewlêr)
- Dr Elizabeth Bishop (American University of Iraq – Baghdad)
- Dr Hisham Ezz El-Din (University of Baghdad)
- Dr Muslih Irwani (American University of Iraq – Baghdad)
- Dr Jalal Mistaffa (University of Sulaimani)
- Dr Beastun Omer Nuri (Salahaddin University – Erbil)Dr Mohammed Salih (Tishk University)
- Dr Muhammad Sharif Ebrahimi (Catholic University in Erbil)
- Dr Thomas Schmidinger (University of Kurdistan Hewlêr)Dr Hala S. Yousif (University of Baghdad)
- Dr Muthanna Faiq (Tikrit University)
- Dr Stam Saeed (University of Sulaimani)
Conference Preparatory Committee:
- Dr Elizabeth Bishop (American University of Iraq – Baghdad)
- Dr Muslih Irwani (American University of Iraq – Baghdad)
- Ms. Vian Mohammedali