Abstract
By providing the conceptual framework for the contributions to this Special Issue, this article argues that impunity as an omnipresent reality in Iraq can be better understood through the twin concepts: impunity state and impunity politics. It defines impunity state as a sphere of radical security and exception from punishment, for which elite players strive, while creating insecurity for non-elite Iraqis. This state is sustained by impunity politics, i.e. the informal bargaining, negotiation, competition, and violence of elite actors to achieve and maintain impunity. The article draws on Walter Benjamin's ideas and recent advances in Critical Security Studies to show how impunity functions on a foundational level and destabilizes Eurocentric understandings of state and sovereignty in Iraq. It demonstrates how the US imposed impunity on Iraq after the invasion in the long 2003. Lastly, it highlights how each article contributes to central theme of this Special Issue.