Iraq on the Brink

by Emile Nakhleh Much blame could go around regarding the current chaos in Iraq and the recent territorial gains of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Four contributing factors stand out: The 2003 decision by the Bush administration… 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 →

Can ISIS be Stopped?

by Mark N. Katz The radical jihadist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL or ISIS), has seized much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland and reached the outskirts of Baghdad. The armed forces of Iraq’s US-backed, Shia majority… Continue Reading →

The Fall of Mosul

Marches of Folly by James Russell Painful as it is to watch black clad Sunni extremists marauding their way through Mosul — a city that Americans died defending — we should all be required to take a dose of the… Continue Reading →

US-Iran Bilateral Talks: On the Edge of a Nuclear Deal?

by Robert E. Hunter With bilateral US-Iran talks taking place in Geneva today, notably topped for the US by Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, who led earlier secret exchanges, negotiations between Iran and world powers might be entering their final… Continue Reading →