Iraq

Miscalculations, Machismo, and Military Misjudgment Could Create New Global Hot Spots

By Daniel V. Speckhard

Connecting 2017’s political and military missteps to 2018’s global economic outlook The shift toward nationalist populism, demonstrated by the sweeping political changes around the world in 2017, has throughout history been a harbinger of global instability and conflict, and could directly affect both the international security landscape and global economy in 2018. Looking back, it […]

ISIS, Syria, and Iraq: A Year-End Appraisal

By Frederic C. Hof

As 2017 closes, so does the physical “caliphate” of a pseudo-religious criminal enterprise known by the names ISIS, ISIL, Daesh, and Islamic State. But killing the caliphate is only step one. Keeping it dead will be a generational struggle. Rooted in al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and supplemented by pro-Saddam Hussein Iraqi Baathists, ISIS seized the […]

Tillerson’s Takes on US Foreign Policy: A Year in Review

Diplomatic negotiations with “no preconditions” will be the US approach to solving the problem of North Korea, while working in concert with friends and allies, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at the Atlantic Council on December 12. “We’re ready to talk any time North Korea would like to talk,” said Tillerson, “and we’re […]

Frederic C. Hof’s remarks at the NATO Parliamentary Forum

By Frederic C. Hof

Below are remarks by Ambassador Frederic C. Hof at the NATO Parliamentary Forum at the National Defense University on Dec. 11, 2017 that touched upon the evolving US approach to Syria and Iraq. I’ve been asked to discuss the evolving US approach to Iraq and Syria. I will try to do so as accurately and as briefly as […]

Iraq: Managing economic reformation and fighting corruption, with an eye on election

By Harith Hasan

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi recently announced his new war against corruption. In using the term “war,” he intended to convey the difficulty of implementing a productive policy to fight corruption. Abadi hopes to build on his successes in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the crisis with Kurdistan by turning […]

The precarious Kurdish-Israeli relationship, post-Kirkuk

By Caroline Rose

With the Iraqi flag now flying above Kirkurk’s oil fields, a major pivot in the Kurdish-Israeli relationship threatens to isolate the KRG from its limited alliance system. In just four days, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) lost nearly all territory gained by Kurdish Peshmerga 2014 forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) […]

Budget politics and Baghdad-Kurdish relations

By Harith Hasan

One of the main disputes behind tensions between the Iraqi federal government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) includes disagreement over budget allocation. This month, the Iraqi government approved the proposed budget for 2018 and sent it to the parliament for debate in the coming weeks. The draft budget, strongly criticized by the KRG, is the […]