Anthropology 101 for Soldiers: What is a Tribe?
A tribe is a form of political identity based on common claimed descent.2
it is not necessarily a lineage group, as tribal subunits (sections or subsections)
may manufacture fictive kinship ties or alter their tribal identity or
affiliations for political, economic, or security-related reasons.3 tribes may
also be of mixed sectarian or ethnic composition. Thus, Iraq’s Shammar and
Jubur tribes have Sunni and Shi’ite branches, while Qashqa’i tribesmen in
Iran are of Turkish, Persian, Arab, Kurdish, Lak, Luri, and Gypsy origin.4
There is no such thing as a “typical” tribe. Tribes may embody diverse
kinship rules, structures, types of political authority, and lifestyles (sedentary,
semi-nomadic, nomadic),5 which may be influenced by security and
economic conditions and government policies.6 Thus, for instance, the Arab
tribes of the arabian Peninsula, Levant, and north africa tended, at least
traditionally, to be relatively egalitarian and non-hierarchical organizations
lacking a well-developed leadership structure, while the turkic tribes of the
Central Asian steppes tended to be hierarchical, highly centralized organizations
ruled by powerful chieftains.7
Although Arab tribal ideology is relatively egalitarian,
in reality, major disparities in status, power,
and wealth exist within and between tribes.8 Among
settled tribes, sheikhly families and clans tend to
form dominant lineages that are better off and more
influential than other families and clans in the tribe.9
Bedouin tribes of “common” origin are looked
down on by those of “noble” origin, while smaller
(“weak”) settled tribes are often looked down on
by larger (“strong”) settled tribes.10
Tribal Values, Processes,
and Organization11
Tribal values remain deeply ingrained in Iraqi
society and have had a profound influence on Iraqi
social mores and political culture. (This observation
holds for much of the rest of the arab world as well.)
These values include the high premium put on ingroup
solidarity (‘asabiyya), which finds expression
in loyalty to the family, clan, and tribe,12 coupled
with a powerful desire to preserve the autonomy of
the tribe vis-à-vis other tribes, non-tribal groups,
and the authorities;13 personal and group honor
(sharaf); sexual honor (‘ird), which pertains to the
chastity of the family’s female members; manliness
(muruwwa), which finds expression in personal
traits such as courage, loyalty, generosity, and hospitality;
and pride in ancestry (nasb).14
Tribal processes include traditional forms of interpersonal
and group conflict such as the blood feud,
as well as mechanisms for regulating and resolving
such conflicts: the cease-fire (atwa), blood money
(fasl), and peace agreement (sulha).15 These processes
are conducted in accordance with tribal law
(‘urf), as opposed to Sharia (Islamic) or civil law, and
are applied mainly in rural towns and villages and
some urban areas, though the precise extent to which
tribal law is applied in Iraq today is not clear.16
Organizationally, the tribes of Iraq consist of
nested (vice hierarchically organized) kinship
groups (see table 1). There are thousands of clans,
hundreds of tribes, and about two dozen tribal confederations
in Iraq today, each with its own sheikh.
(Saddam Hussein’s regime officially recognized
some 7,380 tribal sheikhs.)17
The collapse of central-government authority and
the rise in political and sectarian violence in the wake
of OIF has caused many iraqis to fall back on the
family, tribe, sect, or ethnic group for support in confronting
the daily challenges of living in post-Saddam
Iraq. As a result, tribal identities have assumed greater
salience in iraq in recent years. It would, however, be
a mistake to overemphasize the role of the tribes or to
regard the tribe as the central organizing principle of
Iraqi society today. Large parts of Iraq are inhabited
by detribalized or non-tribal populations, and tribal
identity often competes with and is overshadowed
by other forms of identity (sect, ethnicity, class, or
ideological orientation). Moreover, the demise of
the old regime has led to the rise of new social forces
and actors in Iraq—particularly islamist movements,
militias, and parties, which are playing an increasingly
important role in Iraqi politics. Recent events in anbar
province, however, demonstrate that under certain
conditions, the tribes can still be decisive actors.
. . . . there has been no
systematic effort to assess the impact of violence and
coalition and Iraqi government policies on the tribes
and the state of relations between tribal and non-tribal
groups in Iraqi society.20
. . . .
Still, other sheikhs have adjusted well to the new
rules of the game, participating in Iraq’s conflict
economy and transforming themselves, for all practical
purposes, into local warlords. Perhaps the best
example of this new type of leader is sheikh ‘Abd al-
Sattar Biza’i al-Rishawi of the Albu Risha tribe, leader
of the anbar awakening. According to published
reports, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, sheikh
‘Abd al-Sattar led a band of highwaymen who operated
near Ramadi and worked as a facilitator for AQI
on the side, providing its operatives with cars, safe
houses, and local guides. But when the AQI operatives
he was helping started working as highwaymen
too—encroaching on his ‘turf,’ cutting into his profits,
and then killing his father and several brothers—the
relationship soured, prompting the sheikh to turn on
AQI and to ally himself with coalition forces.54
