In the coming months, Iraq’s newly elected National Assembly will face the major task of writing a permanent constitution for the country. Two other critical issues—personal status law and a security agreement with the United States—may also be thrust on its shoulders. All three issues are directly related to debates about the role of Islam (and more specifically Islamic law) in post-Baathist Iraq.

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About the Author
Nathan J. Brown is a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is an expert on Arab constitutionalism and has written several books on Arab politics.