United by a Goal

My latest UKWatch article, "United By a Goal", uses Iraq's victory in football's Asia Cup as a starting point for a broader discussion of Iraqi nationalism.

An excerpt

"If ever there was an example of a sporting event bearing a wider social significance, then Iraq’s heroic victory in football’s Asia Cup would be it. The Iraqi team have not only scored one of the history’s great sporting achievements but have also produced a symbolic event of substantial weight. Because right in the middle of one of the worst civil wars in living memory, their victory has provided both their nation and world with a shining example of the strength of that most beleaguered and underrated of Iraqi political trends: pan-ethnic and pan-sectarian nationalism."

Read the rest here.