ABSTRACT
The Iraqi marshes were drained by Saddam Hussein in the 1990s as part of a counterinsurgency campaign against the Marsh Arabs as a collective – an operation that has been analyzed previously as a case of ecocide and genocide. Providing an updated analysis of this case study, this article argues that present day upstream hydropower projects, oil extraction and conservation practice in the marshes are causing a continuing genocidal and ecocidal effect. This is because these activities are contributing to the continuing degradation of the marshes, causing them to be uninhabitable and resulting in the re-displacement and cultural alienation of those Marsh Arabs who had returned after the draining in the 1990s. The primary focus of this article is the intersection between neoliberal conservation and the process of ecologically induced genocide, with an exploration of how various partnerships between conservation NGOs and the oil extractive industry on marsh restoration projects have proved to be the newest contributor to the ecocide and ecologically induced genocide occurring there. The role of counterinsurgency and its interplay with conservation, ecocide and genocide will be explored, specifically the “soft” techniques of counterinsurgency which have been used to pacify and co-opt Marsh Arab communities. This article makes connections between the theories and concepts of cultural genocide, the genocide-ecocide nexus, social death, counterinsurgency, and neoliberal conservation, and upholds a nuanced understanding of what can be perceived as genocidal intent.
