Maliki Struggles to Hang On While Iraq Seethes

by Wayne White Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi’s declaration of a caliphate could be too much for quite a few of his Sunni Arab Iraqi allies to swallow. Yet, capitalizing on this surprising IS move will be exceedingly… Continue Reading

The Real Causes of Iraq’s Problems

by Shireen T. Hunter The beleaguered Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, is the latest in the long list of the West’s favorite political leaders turned into pariahs. The conventional wisdom now is that Maliki’s flaws and wrong policies, especially… Continue Reading

Iraq Elections: No End to Violence

by Adil E. Shamoo* The United States withdrew from Iraq in 2012 after nine years of a brutal occupation marked by the imprisonment of over 60,000 people, the death of hundreds of thousands, the torture of prisoners, and the destruction… Continue Reading

The Saga of Iraqi Electoral Disappointment

by Wayne White Since 2005, Iraqis have voted in four parliamentary elections yearning for decisive positive change. In three of those elections, popular hope for more effective governance and a decline in violence were dashed with governments consumed by their… Continue Reading

Syria Still Haunting Obama’s Strategy in the Middle East

by Robert E. Hunter For three years, the Syrian civil war has continued unabated; and for three years, the so-called “international community” has achieved almost nothing — other than to head off the war’s escalation over the use of chemical… Continue Reading