The Politics of Reconstructing Iraq
MIT's Center for International Studies and Department of Urban Studies and Planning offer this graduate seminar on post-conflict and in-conflict reconstruction, using Iraq as its central case. The course examines how planning decisions shape nation building, mitigate conflict, and reorganize the social, spatial, geopolitical, and political life of a country recovering from war. Materials include the syllabus, weekly readings, and discussion topics used alongside a companion colloquium of the same name, drawing on case studies of contemporary reconstruction efforts beyond Iraq as well. The course is aimed at students studying urban planning, political science, or international development who want to understand reconstruction as a political and spatial problem rather than a purely technical one. As with other MIT OpenCourseWare offerings, all course materials are free to access online, with no certificate offered.