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  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    Iran’s Hardliners on the March: The Quiet Before the Storm?

    Aug 3, 2023Daniel Brumberg

    The recent redeployment of Iran’s dreaded “morality police” signals much more than a victory for the country’s hardliners. Instead, it seems to be part and par…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    Sudani’s Premiership Is Failing in the Iraqi Fight Against Corruption

    Jul 12, 2023Patricia Karam

    When Mohammed Shia` al-Sudani became prime minister of Iraq, he made it a priority to combat endemic corruption in the country and help restore citizen trust i…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqUS Foreign Policy

    Shock and Awe: Life in Iraq Twenty Years after the US-led Invasion

    Jun 16, 2023Yara M. Asi

    This year marks a significant milestone in the American-led “Global War on Terror,” especially in relation to Iraq. It has been 20 years since former Secretary…

  • Policy Analysis
    LevantClimate and Environment

    Water Politics in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin

    May 30, 2023Achref Chibani

    While energy security and the control of oil have long been determining factors for geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, the region’s geopolitics have als…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqUS Foreign Policy

    Twenty Years after “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq: A Critical Assessment

    May 2, 2023Charles W. Dunne

    The crisis had been building for months when, on March 20, 2003, this author stood with a group of military officers deep inside the Pentagon, watching a telev…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqUS Foreign Policy

    Iraq 20 Years since the 2003 US Invasion

    Mar 24, 2023Imad K. Harb Patricia Karam Abdulwahab Al-Qassab Rend Al-Rahim

    On March 20, 2003, the United States led an invasion of Iraq supposedly meant to halt its development of weapons of mass destruction. Lacking the support of th…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    Unfinished Business: Nation-Building in Iraq Since 2003

    Mar 21, 2023Rend Al-Rahim

    Nothing so perfectly expresses the failure of nation-building in Iraq as the cry of protesters in 2019, when they chanted, nureed watan, “we want a country.” T…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    Iraqi Prime Minister al-Sudani Upstages His Benefactors in the Coordination Framework

    Jan 31, 2023Rend Al-Rahim

    Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, who was sworn in on October 27, 2022, has nearly completed the first 100 days of his tenure. In this short perio…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Depoliticizing Iraq-Gulf Relations Through Soccer

    Jan 11, 2023Zeidon Alkinani

    Iraq is defying its reputation and fighting against all odds in its attempt to depoliticize its regional image through the use of soccer. Between January 6 and…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqRegional Relations and Geopolitics

    Iraq’s Foreign Policy Balancing Act Is Likely to Continue

    Nov 29, 2022Gregory Aftandilian

    Despite the support that Iraq’s new prime minister, Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, has received from pro-Iran factions in the Iraqi Parliament, he is likely to purs…

  • Policy Analysis
    IraqDemocracy and Governance

    Challenges and Prospects Facing the New Government in Iraq

    Nov 8, 2022Rend Al-Rahim

    Twelve months of high drama in Iraqi politics finally ended on October 27, with the investiture of a new government headed by Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani. Two wee…

  • Policy Analysis
    TurkeySecurity and Defense

    Turkey’s Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Iraq

    Sep 28, 2022Mustafa Gurbuz

    Head of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan’s recent visit to Baghdad was an attempt to heal wounds that were opened during a diplomatic ro…