Soft Power

Chapter profile

Table (1): Chapter reference profile.

This chapter receives a specific function from “Economic Diplomacy”: relationships and missions can identify investors or buyers and reduce market friction, but openness is not confined to trade. A book, professor, film, sports team or archaeological site can build lasting knowledge and trust before any deal. The reverse is also true: a great heritage does not justify claiming broad international trust where researchers, visitors and artists have limited access or poor service experiences.

The chapter therefore does not repeat export economics or negotiating authority settled earlier, nor reduce tourism to airports and hotels. It tests how culture, knowledge, sport, visitors and institutional reputation interact to create voluntary attraction. Diplomatic decisions and sovereign negotiation remain with competent authorities. Culture must not conceal rights crises or target foreign audiences with manufactured messages.

1. Contents and decision map

1. Chapter profile and bridge | 2. Contents and decision map

3. Executive summary | 4. Definitions and the scope of soft power

5. Constitutional and institutional framework | 6. Iraq’s baseline

7. Data gaps and causes of weak impact | 8. Heritage, antiquities and living culture

9. Education and scientific exchange | 10. Arts and cultural industries

11. Sport and societal diplomacy | 12. Tourism and the visitor’s impression

13. Iraq’s international image and digital media | 14. Human rights, diversity and non-governmental partners

15. Four applied Iraqi cases | 16. Transferable international comparisons

17. Reference scenario and alternatives | 18. Vision 2045 and the theory of change

19. Transformation phases, 2027–2045 | 20. Indicator and target dashboard

21. Consistent definitions and anti-manipulation safeguards | 22. Implementation package

23. Implementation and financing matrix | 24. Risk and safeguard register

25. Governance and evaluation mechanisms | 26. Chapter boundaries and handover

27. Gap and assumption register | 28. Notes and references

2. Executive summary

Iraq’s human and cultural resources cannot be reduced to photographs of ancient ruins: Mesopotamian civilisations, historic and religious cities, the marshes, arts, music, literature, cuisine, crafts, languages and social diversity. Possessing these assets is not an international outcome. Soft power depends on conserving them, interpreting them for audiences, facilitating access, respecting their creators and enabling real experiences that visitors, students, artists and researchers voluntarily share with others.

The strongest baseline uses varied units that cannot validly become one “national soft-power index”. Iraq has six UNESCO World Heritage sites, five cultural and one mixed, with continuing monitoring of some sites on the Danger List. Fourteen intangible heritage elements were inscribed through 2025, including multinational elements. Baghdad also joined the Creative Cities Network as a City of Literature in 2015. These are assets of recognition, conservation and networks; they do not automatically mean tourism, cultural exports or public trust rose by the same amount.¹²

Mosul demonstrates the possibility of moving from “removing war damage” to a credible urban story. In 2025, UNESCO documented completion of major religious and cultural landmark restoration, reconstruction of 124 heritage houses and renovation of 404 classrooms within a substantial international mobilisation. The example shows partnership’s strength when schools, crafts and residential neighbourhoods return alongside monuments. It does not permit neglect of maintenance costs, site safety or residents’ and craftspeople’s rights after the project ends.³

Education already has an instrument rather than merely a concept. In May 2026, the Ministry of Higher Education launched the fourth “Study in Iraq” cycle for 2026/2027 students through public and private Iraqi universities. In 2024, it reported 1,015 admitted students in the first cycle and more than 2,000 registrations for the next at that time. These figures cannot be directly compared with announced scholarships, registration forms or graduates. Admission, actual enrolment, attendance, graduation, satisfaction and subsequent alumni networks must be tracked separately.⁴

For tourism, the statistical authority provides series on hotels, guests and revenue, alongside a 2023 tourism expenditure survey. Guest counts and religious-event visits are not, by definition, international tourist counts. Large differences may arise from coverage, year and repeat visits. The vision begins with harmonised visitor measurement by residence, purpose, governorate, nationality and residence, overnight duration, spending and satisfaction, rather than adopting an attractive number and building campaigns around it.⁵

The proposed response is not a parallel promotional ministry, but a national portfolio coordinated by competent state bodies with governorates, universities, athletes, artists, museums, the private sector and diaspora. It safeguards human rights, diversity, creative freedom and truthful history, using evaluable instruments: site conservation, translation and distribution support, academic exchange, sporting-event standards, better visitor experiences, and a multilingual facts and content platform alongside independent overseas perception surveys.

Figure (1): The proposed pathway from resources to non-coercive influence.

3. Definitions and chapter boundaries

Soft Power is the ability to influence others’ preferences through attraction, persuasion, legitimacy and voluntary exchange, rather than military coercion or buying decisions. Not every media instrument is soft power: a Public Diplomacy campaign may be activity with no effect, or a negative effect, where audiences distrust the source. Cultural diplomacy organising institutional exchange must be distinguished from cultural rights protecting creativity, cultural industries generating content and jobs, and tourism providing lived visitor experiences.

Soft power cannot be reduced to a good reputation with everyone. Foreign groups may respect Iraqi poetry while disagreeing with government policy; an independent film may succeed without official support; and an expensive sporting event may worsen perceptions if safety and services fail. Programme inputs, outputs and effects on voluntary willingness to visit, study, exchange or trust must therefore be separated. No single global ranking is conclusive because survey samples, weights, timing and geographical coverage affect it.

Table (2): Operational glossary

4. Constitutional and legal foundations and institutional map

Iraq’s Constitution establishes this field as a right and public service, not merely an international-relations tool. Article 34 addresses education, research and innovation; Article 35 supports cultural activities and institutions; Article 36 protects and encourages participation in sport. Rights and freedoms provisions require protection of dignity, expression, association and equality. The Constitution also defines federal foreign-policy functions and distributes local powers. “Iraq’s image” must therefore not justify restricting artists, subordinating universities or removing governorates’ cultural and tourism roles.⁶

Internationally, Iraq accepted UNESCO’s 1970 Convention against illicit trafficking in cultural property, became party to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and joined the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. These obligations make heritage, diversity and community rights part of policy. Recovered artefacts, crafts and popular practices cannot be treated as promotional material detached from their custodians and context.⁷

The domestic system has multiple owners: the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities and competent authorities and sites; Higher Education and universities; Youth and Sport, federations and the Olympic Committee within their legal autonomy; Foreign Affairs and missions; governorates and regions; Transport, Interior and visa and crossing authorities; and the private sector and independent cultural institutions. Coordination does not mean creating a body dominating artistic, university or contracting decisions. It requires service-level agreements, referral mechanisms and transparent budgets, with a small coordinating council built on existing structures.

Table (3): Proposed responsibility map—coordination does not remove implementation responsibility from its owner.

5. Iraq’s baseline: what numbers tell us and what remains unknown

The baseline has three layers. The first is an “asset stock”, such as World Heritage sites or inscribed intangible heritage elements: institutional recognition figures, not measures of foreign opinion. The second is a “flow of use”, such as hotel guests, exchange students or sporting-event attendance, tied to a period, coverage and source. The third is “long-term perception outcomes”, such as foreign audience trust, repeat visits or sustained research cooperation. No published, consistent Iraqi national series under the desired definitions exists for these, so it is established in the 2027 baseline year.

UNESCO lists six Iraqi World Heritage sites: Hatra, Ashur/Qal’at Sherqat, Samarra Archaeological City, Erbil Citadel, the Ahwar of Southern Iraq with their cultural sites and natural components, and Babylon. Inscription must not be read as permanent certification of a site’s safety. The 2026 World Heritage Committee decisions and conservation files include monitoring Ashur, Hatra and Samarra as sites on the World Heritage in Danger List. Success requires verified progress in conservation, management and safe visitor flows, not merely hurried efforts to add new sites.⁸

Published Iraqi headline tourism indicators for 2024 show approximately 1,531 hotels and accommodation complexes, around 5.155 million guests, and hotel revenues of roughly IQD 303.821 billion under the general table’s definitions. This differs markedly from 2023, so neither a “tourism collapse” nor “tourism growth” can be calculated before checking changes in scope, survey method, coverage and guest definitions in the detailed report. Accommodation guests remain distinct from international visitors and religious tourists who do not stay in hotels.⁹

In education, “Study in Iraq” announced in 2024 that its first cycle had 1,015 admitted students and its next had over two thousand registrations at the statement date. The ministry then announced more than 16 thousand available scholarships in the third cycle in 2025, and in 2026 reported programmes spanning 78 public and private universities. These figures represent different procedural stages—admissions, registrations, scholarships offered and participating universities. They cannot be added into “foreign students actually studying” without independent attendance and graduation records.¹⁰¹¹

Table (4): Iraq’s composite baseline | UNESCO, the statistical authority, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Asian Football Confederation; years and units differ.

6. Causal diagnosis: why does a cultural asset fail to generate lasting influence?

The first obstacle is a gap in protection and access. A foreign researcher may know an Iraqi heritage site but be unable to find a database for research permits, a safe time to visit, or consistent information about laws, fees and services. If the site is at risk or lacks a visitor and conservation plan, extensive promotion may turn some of its appeal into a threat to its heritage. Carrying capacity, risk management and public services must therefore precede spending on a campaign.

The second obstacle is the separation of a product from its global access chain. An Iraqi creative practitioner may produce important work but lack editing, translation, distribution, rights management, publishing or access to cultural-market agents. A university professor may have valuable research, yet cooperation stops at a memorandum of understanding that creates no team, laboratory or joint course. A sporting victory may be exhausted in hours of celebration unless it becomes exchange programmes for young people, coaches and federations.

The third obstacle is a credibility gap: visual accounts of coexistence and heritage are stronger when visitors and participants encounter services and rules that respect dignity and diversity. Promoting a uniformly rosy image while ignoring real complaints or restricting criticism increases the risk of losing trust and makes messages less believable. “Iraq’s image” is therefore built through the quality of experience, not control over discourse.

A fourth, institutional obstacle is fragmented attribution and data. Cultural budgets overlap with tourism and antiquities, while data series fail to separate creative industries from general services; a festival audience is counted once by a governorate and again by a media agency. The solution does not require a surveillance system tracking individuals, but project definitions and mechanisms for attendance, satisfaction, impact and independent review using aggregated, anonymised data.

Figure (2): The causal bottleneck: a historic name alone does not build a network of voluntary respect

7. Heritage, antiquities and living culture: protection before display

Iraqi heritage serves multiple functions: an archive of knowledge about Mesopotamian civilisations, an educational and rights-related resource for society, a foundation for crafts, jobs and local services, and a bridge to communities around the world. Conservation cannot be judged solely by annual visitor numbers. Archaeological work requires defined site boundaries; management of encroachment, soil, climate, pollution, flooding and vandalism; and protection of objects, stores, records and visitor safety, consistent with UNESCO’s state-of-conservation observations. No site without a basic management plan should enter a broad international campaign that increases pressure on it.

The vision uses a “site–community–museum–content” pathway instead of building an isolated monument. The competent authority begins by assessing risks, rights and maintenance needs, then develops interpretation in appropriate languages and an evidence-based scholarly narrative. It trains guides, craftspeople and local accommodation providers, publishes information on safe and equitable access for persons with disabilities, and connects the site with schools, institutes, research centres and local associations. Religious practice, a craft or the marshes must not be depicted as a folkloric spectacle for sale without the community’s consent and benefit.

The recovery of looted antiquities requires a framework separate from promotional campaigns: a unified reference inventory of objects and manuscripts; files documenting ownership, provenance and photographs; criminal, customs, judicial and diplomatic cooperation; and a responsible disclosure system that protects investigations. This connects to the obligations and guidance of the 1970 UNESCO Convention. The number of objects returned in a particular year may change because of a single large case, so it cannot alone provide an absolute measure of the success of heritage protection policy.¹²

Table (5): Heritage matrix: a campaign must not precede a conservation, rights and safety plan.

8. Education and scientific exchange: a network of trust for generations, not just a scholarship count

An international student can become a credible ambassador of experience if they receive quality education, care and recognition of their qualification, encounter a diverse university community, and later return to describe their experience voluntarily. The ministry should therefore not reward universities solely for the number of scholarships announced. The student journey includes fair publicity; admission, language and visa requirements; housing, insurance and services; teaching, laboratories and supervision; and then recognition, complaints, graduation and continued links with the university. Completion and satisfaction rates should be published by programme type and university in ways that protect individual privacy.

Science diplomacy grows from long-term research partnerships: joint projects, reciprocal peer-reviewed publication, laboratory training, short courses and solutions to shared Iraqi problems such as water, antiquities, medicine and digital heritage. An agreement with a foreign university should not count as productive cooperation before it generates work, training, academic recognition or documented publication. Student exchange also remains part of the quality of education and higher education addressed in the human-resources and science doors, while this chapter’s role concerns the external channel, trust, partnerships and a continuing alumni network.

Figure (3): The “Study in Iraq” impact chain: stages that cannot be reduced to scholarship numbers

9. Art, creativity and content: from individual production to global circulation

Foreign policy cannot “order” the production of a globally successful film or music that people love. Appeal emerges when writers, artists, publishers, designers, theatre practitioners and filmmakers have rights, skills, finance, distribution and fair competition that allow diverse styles, languages and criticism. The state’s role begins with copyright, transparency, contracts, education, training, exhibition spaces and easier travel and exchange, not with directing artistic content to serve a predetermined official image.

Good Iraqi work faces an access bottleneck: unclear translation rights, a local publisher without an overseas distributor, subtitling and dubbing costs, weak links with festivals, museums and agents, or difficulty transferring revenues. The vision therefore proposes a limited competitive fund for translation, rights and entry into creative markets, with public criteria, independent expert assessment and disclosure of beneficiaries and results. A grant must not become permanent product support without audience demand or quality.

A cultural product should be measured from multiple perspectives: quality, diversity, an overseas distribution programme, repeat demand, protected rights, revenues and professional critical recognition. An independent performance can have a major qualitative impact on a small foreign community. Purchased digital views or extensive media exposure therefore do not equal lasting “appreciation”. Access to production for women, young people, persons with disabilities and Iraq’s different languages is also a matter of justice and opportunity, not a publicity exercise.

UNESCO’s Culture|2030 framework includes indicators for the cultural economy, cultural employment, trade in cultural goods and services, cultural education, participation and artistic freedom; these provide a methodological starting point. The global economic shares of cultural industries must not be projected onto Iraqi output, because activity, accounting and establishment classifications differ. The vision proposes experimental cultural and creative activity accounts with the statistical authority, using international classifications and beginning with definitions of establishments, workers, products and intellectual property rights.¹³

Table (6): The international arts value chain | Performance criteria and safeguards for the independence of cultural production.

10. Sport: community diplomacy without politicising victory

Sport provides direct encounters that transcend language and division in most societies, but it is not an automatic certificate of moral standing for any state. Iraq can use hosting competitions and exchanges involving youth, women, persons with disabilities, referees and coaches to create spaces for cooperation and shared feeling. However, the independence of sports federations under their rules, participants’ rights and spectator safety must be protected. Discrimination, violence, doping and fraud must be combated, and the national team must not become a platform for settling political disputes.

Basra 2023 offers an important case of hosting a regional event and the national team winning the twenty-fifth Gulf Cup, a fact documented by the Asian Football Confederation. The implementation lesson is not to turn every sporting success into a demand for another huge competition, but to conduct a cost–benefit analysis before hosting: stadium, transport, ticketing, accommodation and emergency capacity; effects on local schools and clubs; a post-tournament budget; visitor and media experience; and everyone’s safety. Where these conditions are absent, small, repeated events are preferable to a large project that stalls after the occasion.¹⁴

International sports programmes should connect to joint training pathways and twinning agreements between clubs, universities and youth centres, opening safe and equitable opportunities for individual sports, women’s sport and sport for persons with disabilities. Impact is measured through continuing participants, partnerships lasting a year or more, accredited training, spectator conduct and independent assessment of attendance, security and organisation; it is not confined to medal counts or guest photographs.

11. Tourism: human experience and the credibility of place

Religious, archaeological, cultural, environmental, rural and urban tourism serve different markets and distinct service pathways. The state must not describe millions attending a religious occasion as millions of “international tourists”, or assume every visitor stays overnight or spends in a particular governorate. Nor should it disregard millions of visitors because some travel for religion rather than leisure. The system classifies visits by usual residence, nationality, destination, purpose, length of stay, overnight stays and expenditure, following the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008, while separating domestic and inbound visits, day trips and repeat visitors.¹⁵

Improving the visitor experience starts before arrival, with truthful information about open sites, seasons, prices, access routes, visit conditions and services. It extends to border crossings, transport, road safety, signs, service-provider conduct, insurance, cleanliness, toilets, connectivity, assistance for persons with disabilities and complaints. Campaigns must not conceal weaknesses; they should connect publicity to a service plan that reviews complaints, addresses their causes and clarifies visitor rights and site protection.

Geographical focus does not mean “visit everything in one trip”, but limited itineraries that begin ready and maintainable: Basra and the marshes within water and environmental capacity; Baghdad, literature and museums; Babylon and historic cities; Mosul and its diverse heritage; Najaf and Karbala under crowd-service rules; and Erbil and the region’s other governorates through institutional coordination. Each itinerary is implemented with communities, the private sector, security bodies and professional organisations. Agencies must not sell promises of access to a closed or dangerous site.

The test of a destination’s success does not begin with ticket numbers alone. It uses post-trip visitor satisfaction, repeat visits documented through an independent sample, complaints resolved within a deadline, verified average additional local spending, local employment shares, sites with effective conservation plans and an environmental safety indicator. An ecological itinerary must not seek the largest possible number of visitors if the site’s capacity is lower. Under pressure, regulated quotas and appropriately timed seasonal visits are preferable to numerical growth.

Figure (4): The visitor journey: actual quality underpins the account visitors carry into the world

12. Iraq’s international image: reputation as a testable outcome, not a single narrative

An international image is not a large billboard. People perceive other countries through travel, relatives, students, shops, art, sport, news and official institutions. Channels differ by country, age, language, diaspora and motivation: a company seeking legal data does not respond to the same messages as a student interested in a scholarship or a reader seeking a novel. They must not all be measured by a single social-engagement indicator.

The state can create a “multilingual Iraqi facts library” containing up-to-date reference information about heritage, study programmes, events, museums, services, visas and general risks, with original links, licensed images, contact details and update dates. It should not replace independent journalism or turn facts into a vehicle for deception. Credibility requires publishing corrections and responding to errors, and referring journalists and researchers to specialised authorities rather than managing a single answer to every question.

Iraqi communities abroad are a two-way connection resource. They can contribute translation, exchange, guidance, twinning, grants and events, but their members must not automatically be treated as government representatives, have their political data collected or be subjected to pressure. Partnership should rest on individuals’ choice and the initiatives of professional and cultural institutions, respecting different views and freedom to integrate in their countries of residence.

The vision proposes an “international perception survey” in 2027 across selected markets and audiences likely to visit, study or cooperate culturally, with a defined, public sample, a consistent questionnaire and a record of open-ended responses. It measures accurate knowledge of Iraq, trust in information, willingness to visit or study under stated conditions, and negative perceptions whose causes can be addressed. Repeat surveys must not cover only favourable markets; the sample should combine neighbouring countries, target markets and contexts of criticism or sensitive perceptions.

Figure (5): Sustainable reputation: truthful information and experience come before paid media reach

13. Rights, diversity and non-governmental partners

Culture cannot be a source of appeal if its bearers lose the freedom to participate in defining its meaning. Iraq’s soft power rests on religious, ethnic, linguistic, regional and artistic diversity and the history of its different cities. This is a sensitive asset that requires avoiding the reduction of identity to one colour or official story. The proposed design ensures participation by local community representatives, universities, independent institutions, researchers, unions, the private sector and youth centres as appropriate to each programme, while preventing participation from being used to display token consent.

Freedom of artistic expression, academic research and diverse narrative sources contribute to the state’s credibility. The vision does not require every work to promote institutional performance; a critical film or literary work may present a more human and appealing image than a celebratory advertisement. Artistic juries should therefore be separate from official communications management, with transparent grant criteria, independent appeals, respect for intellectual property and artists’ right to choose lawful partners and methods.

Cooperation with the diaspora, missions and foreign universities should use the minimum personal data required under the law. Beneficiary lists or photographs of children must not be published without an appropriate basis and consent. Events must follow standards for non-discrimination, accessibility and prevention of harassment and exploitation, and protect antiquities against unlawful excavation and sale. No company or institution may receive a monopoly over “Iraq’s image” or use public heritage for exclusive commercial purposes without competition and clear rules.

Domestic cultural rights should be protected before seeking external standing. Programmes confined to the capital do not represent the whole population, and translation that ignores local languages fails to introduce the world to Iraq’s diversity. Each programme should therefore adopt a published criterion for representation of governorates and groups based on quality, feasibility and implementation capacity, measuring actual access rather than merely names on a committee.

14. Lessons from four Iraqi cases: testing programme design

15.1 Mosul: UNESCO documented the completion of rehabilitation of major landmarks and extensive international investment exceeding USD 115 million since the launch of the Revive the Spirit of Mosul initiative in 2018, including rehabilitation of 124 historic houses and 404 classrooms. The project encompassed Islamic and Christian heritage, local communities and restoration skills. The transferable lesson is not the funding amount, but the combination of heritage, the city, people and everyday function. A token miniature version in another city cannot reproduce the effect without residents, ownership and maintenance.¹⁶

15.4 “Study in Iraq”: the programme represents the beginning of an existing international academic network. It should underpin a student-journey record from interest through registration, graduation and subsequent contact, with multilingual satisfaction surveys at participating universities. Ambitions to expand numbers must not reduce education and service quality for Iraqi or incoming students. The difference between scholarships offered, used and cancelled places should be published rather than combining them under a single “beneficiary” label.¹⁷¹⁸

Table (7): Four Iraqi cases: mechanisms, limits and outcomes requiring independent evidence.

15. International comparison: transfer the mechanism, not the scale or rhetoric

Finland offers a model of country-image governance rather than imposing a single narrative. The Finland Promotion Board provides open multilingual materials and tools and periodic reports on external perceptions based on surveys, media monitoring and missions’ experience. The useful mechanism for Iraq is a unified, correctable facts repository, linking communication to perception research and assessment of annual changes. This does not assume that Finnish public-trust issues, resources or administrative arrangements resemble Iraq’s.¹⁹

The British Council’s 2024 study of soft power and cultural relations across several countries shows cultural roles moving closer to foreign and economic policy, with an increasing need for coordination and domestic benefit. The relevant lesson is to protect the connection between diplomacy and public value without replacing human exchange with official campaigns or using culture to suppress differences.²⁰

Table (8): Methodological comparison: replicate tools and evaluation rules, not institutions on a scale unsuited to Iraq’s circumstances.

16. The reference scenario and alternatives: what if institutions do not change?

The second pathway, “realistic reform”, is the adopted one. In 2027–2030 it focuses on five conditions: data and rights; conservation and visitor-experience projects at a limited number of sites; universities and alumni networks; governed translation and distribution grants; and independent image measurement. Resources are reallocated towards programmes that have endured, attracted satisfied participants and closed real gaps. The outcome is gradual improvement in access, partnerships, responsible local spending and the quality of reputation, not an assumed leap in international rankings.

Table (9): Policy scenarios, not numerical forecasts: data gaps must not be filled with undisclosed expert estimates.

17. Iraq’s image in 2045 and the theory of change

In 2045 Iraq will have the “capacity for presence” if it becomes known through multiple experiences and institutions rather than a single event. Researchers can visit conserved sites and access published archives and clear rights; readers encounter professionally translated Iraqi works; international students study in reliable programmes and leave with enduring connections; athletes take part in safe events; and visitors see cooperating cultural cities and living crafts that respect their practitioners. International impact then arises from the choices of individuals, universities, organisers and cultural buyers themselves.

The theory of change has seven links: first, local institutions protect rights and assets; second, authentic, high-quality products and services; third, external access through appropriate languages and channels; fourth, safe real-world experience; fifth, independent evaluation and trust; sixth, repeated partnerships and exchange; and seventh, reinvestment of income and reputation in protecting assets and skills. No missing link can automatically be replaced by a media campaign or an official visit.

Figure (6): Theory of change to 2045: appeal is tested in the recipient’s experience, not the sender’s message

18. Transformation stages, 2027–2045, and transition conditions

The first year, 2027, does not assume Iraq is building cultural and university institutions from scratch. Reforms begin with an inventory of existing programmes, sites and cooperation networks; designation of data owners; selection of five pilot destinations or itineraries based on conservation and service readiness rather than political representation; the first perception survey in target markets; and a standardised report on scholarships, accommodation guests, cultural events and sporting impact. No large promotional budget is assigned to a site before responsibility for visitor safety is established.

The 2028–2030 period is a “proof of capability” stage: launching an auditable register of cultural sites and visitor-service points; a competitive translation and distribution programme; alumni networks and housing, satisfaction and graduation indicators for incoming students; independent evaluation of at least two sporting/cultural events annually within the sample; and linking creative-city experiments to publishers and universities rather than a slogan. Expansion is tied to effective results demonstrated in public annual reports.

Table (10): Vision implementation stages, a strategic proposal conditional on the 2027 baseline.

19. Indicator dashboard and targets: measuring capability and impact

The indicators below are **proposed policy targets**, not statistical forecasts or legally established outcomes. Denominators, coverage and baselines are established in 2027. Stage percentages may be recalibrated during the first methodological review, provided that the decision record is published and measurement rules are not changed silently. Every percentage must be accompanied by its value and underlying count, and a target for pilot governorates must not be converted into a judgement about Iraq as a whole.

Table (11): Proposed 2027–2045 targets | Percentages refer to the approved programme, sites or sample, and multiples to the audited 2027 baseline; all are subject to testing and approval.

20. Indicator definitions and safeguards against manipulation

S01 = the number of sites predetermined in the priority list that pass an independent review of management, conservation, safety and maintenance-budget plans ÷ the total number of sites on that same list. The denominator changes only in an announced cycle. A plan is not “effective” merely because a PDF exists if it lacks a responsible official, maintenance expenditure, a safety decision and a visitor plan. World Heritage state-of-conservation reports are reviewed separately as an external verification source.

S02 measures the presence of a living safeguarding plan prepared with the communities concerned, verifying recent skill/practice transmission and decision-making by its bearers; UNESCO inscription alone is not a safeguarding plan. S03 counts an itinerary as ready when sites, services, accessibility and visit conditions, contact information and objection procedures are published and tested with a visitor sample; this differs from “opening a road or building”.

S04 = legitimate complaints closed with the complainant’s consent or an approved reason within the announced deadline ÷ accepted complaints during a reference period. Appeal rates and reopening outcomes are published to prevent cases from being closed only on paper. S05 = visitors reporting positive satisfaction on a fixed scale ÷ eligible respondents in a random post-visit sample, with a documented minimum sample, margin of error and response rate.

S06 measures students in an international programme who enrolled and continued into the next academic year under the same identifier; it excludes announced but unused scholarships. S07 verifies at least one scientific/exchange contract, publication or training activity documented by both parties during the year, not the signing of a memorandum. S08 verifies an international sale, distribution, exhibition or documented translated publication with a clear rights agreement, excluding translation contracts without publication or presentation.

S09 = events within the predetermined national plan with actual budgets and published performance, safety, satisfaction and participation evaluations ÷ the number of planned events. S10 keeps the knowledge question, countries, core groups, sampling, weights and survey timing consistent; it reports the margin of error and prohibits comparison of an open social-media questionnaire with a probability survey. S11 combines output, financial and conflict-of-interest reporting, beneficiary-experience data and external verification for each programme; it does not mean simply publishing a media announcement.

Figure (7): Measurement pyramid: activity, quality and impact must not be combined into one cosmetic figure

21. Implementation programme package: ten initiatives starting with existing capacity

Programme SP-01 — Cultural accounts and the international impact observatory. Led by the statistical authority in coordination with the ministries responsible for culture, tourism, antiquities, higher education, foreign affairs and sport, and the governorates. It begins in 2027 with an inventory of cultural, tourism, artistic and sporting data and definitions, then publishes a multi-level dashboard with open methodological data, linking every target to a denominator, year, unit and responsible party. No new platform is created before testing connections to what agencies already produce.

Programme SP-02 — Living heritage and safe-site itineraries. It starts with 5 pilot itineraries across different settings, selected professionally and with community consent, then expands gradually after checking conservation, carrying capacity, residents’ rights and antiquities protection. Outputs include multilingual site information, safety plans, accredited guides, a complaints system and limited support for site-related crafts. Financial disbursements are linked not only to attendance but also to a site-condition indicator.

Programme SP-04 — The “Study in Iraq” and international alumni network. Implemented by the Ministry of Higher Education and qualified universities through their existing programmes, it connects actual registration to quality requirements for accommodation, teaching and services, then launches an optional alumni network, research partnerships, twinning and short-term projects. It begins by auditing programme names and stages without redefining announced scholarships as enrolled students.

Programme SP-06 — Sport as a bridge of trust. It selects medium-sized events and exchanges based on readiness, cost and sporting security, supporting young people, coaches, women’s sport and persons with disabilities. Before hosting, it requires a file covering spectator flows, accommodation, transport, safety, maintenance and subsequent facility use, and prohibits opaque fees to partners or agents.

Programme SP-09 — International perception observatory and independent evaluation. Implemented by an evaluation unit involving universities, statistical bodies and independent experts under consistent sampling rules and defined geographical areas, with a published periodic survey methodology and qualitative and quantitative indicator report. It prohibits selecting only the most sympathetic groups, and survey findings must not justify forcing content creators into a single government narrative.

Programme SP-10 — Protection of heritage in circulation and digital memory. Based on inventories, digitisation, protection of community and individual rights, tracking looted-antiquities files and international legal coordination under applicable rules, with priorities for conservation and digital risks affecting images and documents. It connects museums, universities and conservation experts without disclosing sensitive data or property exposed to theft.

22. Implementation, financing and dependencies matrix

Three operating-cost categories are used before a proper feasibility study: (L) relatively low, implemented mainly by reallocating administrative work or existing resources; (M) medium, requiring programme expenditure, procurement, training and monitoring; and (H) high, involving conservation or infrastructure works that may require capital investment and quality review. These letters do not specify a final budget. Each programme is costed in dinars after a detailed scope, alternatives, financing and implications for subsequent years are established; no national total unsupported by invoices or market prices should be announced.

Table (12): Programme management matrix | Costs remain qualitative until a feasibility study and approved allocation exist; outputs are measurable.

23. Risk register and safeguards: how can soft power avoid causing harm?

A soft-power policy does not succeed if it increases appeal momentarily but weakens heritage conservation or artistic freedom, or misleads guests about safety that is unavailable. Each programme therefore has stop and escalation thresholds and a source review before campaigning, with clear responsibility. General risks are presented administratively, while site-security details and data about students, individuals and antiquities are protected for safety and privacy.

Table (13): Proposed risk register | Reviewed quarterly in pilot programmes and annually after stabilisation.

24. Governance and independent evaluation: from indicator to decision

The soft-power system needs a coordinator, not a new authority monopolising culture: a small official steering committee or government coordination process within the existing structure, including culture, higher education, tourism, foreign affairs, sport, statistics and professional and independent representatives when needed. Its mandate is to inventory objectives and dependencies and coordinate indicators, not censor artistic or teaching content. Each agency owns its project, financing and contracts, while shared obstacles are escalated to the Council of Ministers or competent authorities under the law.

Implementation teams meet every three months around a limited list of services and projects: site conservation status, visitor satisfaction, distributed translations, actual university partnerships, evaluated sporting programmes and publication of reliable data. The report presents “what was done, what stalled, what stopped, and why”, alongside a baseline, approved budget, expenditure and progress. A programme is not rated successful merely for exhausting its allocation.

Cultural programmes involving significant expenditure undergo independent review every two years, with before-and-after evaluation of hosting or international campaigns where a suitable sample and comparison group can be designed. When causal attribution cannot be established, the report says “associated with”, not “caused”. Perception indicators are presented alongside statistical confidence and external context. Sensitive heritage sites undergo periodic review by independent conservation experts even when visitor numbers rise.

Figure (8): Governance cycle: every indicator leads to a decision and an accountable party, not a decorative dashboard

25. Chapter boundaries, conclusion and bridge to Iraq as a regional hub

The chapter covered the six official pathways: culture, education, art, sport, tourism and Iraq’s international image, redefining them as a network of trust, exchange and testable outcomes. It left to other volumes detailed general and higher education reform; protection of artistic employment and investment and industry rules; administration of state visas, roads, energy and hotels; security and constitutional powers; and investment, trade and economic diplomacy mechanisms. It proposed no new ministry and set no comprehensive financial value without a feasibility study.

“Iraq as a Regional Hub” in V4-D09-C05 receives three conclusions: first, Iraq possesses stories, communities and institutions capable of communicating beyond its borders; second, trust and cultural, scientific and sporting relations can support the appeal of cities, corridors and partnerships without replacing the requirements of transport, security, energy and industry; and third, reasonable regional leadership rests on actually serving others, not declaring geographical centrality or presumed cultural influence.

26. Gap and assumption register and closure plan

Table (14): A gap register that must not be filled with guesswork; published administrative sources are not always sufficient to calculate national impact.