Maliki is Gone: Now What?

by Shireen T. Hunter Nouri al-Maliki is no longer Iraq’s prime minister, but his departure does not mean that Iraq’s problems will be resolved easily or soon. A basic change must first occur in Iraq’s domestic politics, the power struggles within its different… Continue Reading →

Islamic State in Iraq: Confronting the Threat

by Emile Nakhleh The Islamic State’s territorial expansion and barbaric executions in Iraq and Syria are a gathering threat and must be confronted. American air bombardment, however, is the wrong course of action, and will not necessarily weaken ISIS or… Continue Reading →

Trouble Brewing in Kurdish-Controlled Kirkuk

by Mohammed A. Salih* Ebril — The Kurdish flag is flying high in the wind from the rooftop of an old brick house inside Kirkuk’s millennia-old citadel, as Rashid – a stern-looking man sitting behind a machine gun – monitors the… Continue Reading →

Beyond Syria: Collateral Damage and New Alliances

by Wayne White The reverberations of the desperate war inside Syria have increasingly radiated outward. In addition to the massive Syrian refugee exodus, Lebanon and Iraq in particular have been impacted adversely by heightened instability and violence. Yet actions associated… Continue Reading →

Iraq Retakes Washington Centre-Stage, Briefly

by Jim Lobe via IPS News Ten and a half years after invading U.S. troops ousted President Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime, Iraq re-emerged here this week, if only briefly, as a major foreign policy agenda item. The occasion was the… Continue Reading →