Nouri al-Maliki in the context of "United Iraqi Alliance"

The War in Iraq (2013–2017) was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State. Following December 2013, the insurgency escalated into a full-scale war following clashes in parts of western Iraq, which culminated in the Islamic State offensive into Iraq in June 2014, leading to the capture of the cities of Mosul, Tikrit and other cities in western and northern Iraq by the Islamic State. Between 4–9 June 2014, the city of Mosul was attacked and later fell; following this, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called for a national state of emergency on 10 June. However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers. Ali Ghaidan, a former military commander in Mosul, accused al-Maliki of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city of Mosul. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens.

The war resulted in the forced resignation of al-Maliki in 2014, as well as an airstrike campaign by the United States and a dozen other countries in support of the Iraqi military, participation of American and Canadian troops (predominantly special forces) in ground combat operations, a $3.5 billion U.S.-led program to rearm the Iraqi security forces, a U.S.-led training program that provided training to nearly 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police, the participation of the military of Iran, including troops as well as armored and air elements, and military and logistical aid provided to Iraq by Russia. On 9 December 2017, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced victory over the Islamic State. The Islamic State switched to guerrilla "hit and run" tactics in an effort to undermine the Iraqi government's effort to eradicate it. This conflict is interpreted by some in Iraq as a spillover of the Syrian civil war. Other Iraqis and observers see it mainly as a culmination of long-running local sectarianism, exacerbated by the 2003–2011 Iraq War, the subsequent increase in anti-Sunni sectarianism under Prime Minister al-Maliki, and the ensuing bloody crack-down on the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests.

The second Al-Maliki government was the government of Iraq from 22 December 2010 to 8 September 2014. This followed a record length of time since the Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010 which resulted in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki retaining his position and forming a national unity government including all main blocs that had been elected to parliament.

This Al-Maliki II Cabinet was succeeded by the government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (2014–2018).

Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi (Arabic: حيدر جواد كاظم العبادي; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Previously he served as Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, in the first government after Saddam Hussein was deposed.

He was designated as prime minister by President Fuad Masum on 11 August 2014 to succeed Nouri al-Maliki and was approved by the Iraqi parliament on 8 September 2014. Al-Abadi was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.

The 2012–2013 Iraqi protests started on 21 December 2012 following a raid on the home of Sunni Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi and the arrest of 10 of his bodyguards. Beginning in Fallujah, the protests afterwards spread throughout Sunni Arab parts of Iraq. The protests centered on the issue of the alleged sectarianism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Pro-Maliki protests also took place throughout central and southern Iraq, where there is a Shia Arab majority. In April 2013, sectarian violence escalated after the 2013 Hawija clashes. The protests continued throughout 2013, and in December Maliki used security forces to forcefully close down the main protest camp in Ramadi, leaving at least ten gunmen and three policemen dead in the process.

The first government of Iraq led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005. The government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government which had continued in office in a caretaker capacity until the new government was formed and confirmed.

This Al Maliki I Government governed Iraq until 2010, to be succeeded by the Al Maliki II Government, which was in office until 2014.

The Islamic Dawa Party (Arabic: حزب الدعوة الإسلامية, romanized: Ḥizb ad-Daʿwa al-Islāmiyya) is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political movement that was formed in 1957 by seminarians in Najaf, Iraq, and later formed branches in Lebanon and Kuwait. The party backed the Iranian Revolution and also Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the Iran–Iraq War. It supported the invasion of Iraq. Iran played a crucial role in the development of the movement, especially its Lebanese branch which later became Hezbollah. The Islamic Dawa Party is led by Nouri al-Maliki.

According to recent analysis, in 2019, the Dawa Party was reportedly suffering from internal divisions and was in danger of losing its "political relevance".