"Tribal diplomacy" in the Middle East: U.S. experience in Iraq
The author analyses the engagement by the U.S. occupation and expeditionary forces in Iraq (2003-2010) of traditional Arab social structures of this country - namely the whole range of tribal networks. Before entering Iraq the U.S. did not have this experience and thus it's useful to follow the change in the character of the relationship with tribes from the level of almost absolute absence of understanding and underestimation of tribal factor to the level of cooperation and even financing of certain needs of local communities, in particular in Al Anbar province. Light is also shed at the contribution of the American think-tankers, first of all by the Washington based U.S. Institute of Peace.