Shelley, Louise I.Wahab, Bilal A.2015-07-292015-07-292015https://hdl.handle.net/1920/9682Petroleum wealth is the lifeblood of Iraq, with the potential to promote prosperity, or become a curse that destabilizes the country and interrupts its economic and political development. The management and sharing of petroleum wealth has been at the center of economic, political and security developments in Iraq since the country's invasion in 2003. This study analyzes Iraq's experiment with petrofederalism, the influence of different actors (e.g. international oil companies and ISIS), and the emergence of Iraqi Kurdistan as a petroregion. Using case study method, it demonstrates how patronage politics exacerbated resource curse in Iraq and resulted in instability.329 pagesenCopyright 2015 Bilal A. WahabPublic policyEnergyPolitical ScienceCorruptionIraq and KurdistanISIS/ISILPatronage NetworksPetroleum PolicyResource CurseDissertation