ABSTRACT
Sectarian violence in Iraq following its occupation by US-led forces illustrates vividly how divisive collective memories among ethnic, political, or religious groups can subvert intrastate conflict resolution. The case of Iraq exemplifies this premise in two crucial aspects. First, militant Sunni or Shiia agents fomented discord in post-Saddam Iraq by reviving memories of centuries-old sectarian controversies or perceived offenses previously censored under the Baathist regime. Collective memories in such cases have bases in the historical past, however selectively – and often distortedly – they have been revised in contemporary group recollection. Second, armed factions also appealed to supporters by merely appropriating traditional religious or ethnic symbolism. Doing so conveys the impression of a fervently remembered past, albeit one invented in the present to justify continued hostilities. In both contexts, inflammatory invocations of memory – whether real or imagined, historically-based or superficially fabricated – provide dangerously potent inducements for supporting programs of armed violence and political instability (Hashim 2006: 99-120; Rogers 2006: 65-74).
