Budget politics and Baghdad-Kurdish relations

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Balancing acts and breaking points: Iraq’s US-Iran dilemma

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The future of US–Iraq relations is neither as dim as it may first appear, nor as promising as one might hope.
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Budget politics and Baghdad-Kurdish relations

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Budget politics and Baghdad-Kurdish relations

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Trump must clarify his Iraq policy. Washington’s Middle East investment hangs in the balance.

By Sarkawt Shamsulddin

Contradictory signals from the US president on Iraq’s Iran-connected Popular Mobilization Forces risks derailing hard-won progress.
Iraq Middle East

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The Iraq Initiative provides transatlantic and regional policy makers with unique perspectives and analysis on the ongoing challenges and opportunities facing Iraq as the country tries to build an inclusive political system, attract economic investment, and encourage a vibrant civil society.

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MENASource

Nov 16, 2017

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 […]

Iraq

In the News

Nov 13, 2017

Khoury in Cairo Review: Lessons of History, Old and New

By Nabeel Khoury

Read the full article here

Iraq Syria

Video

Nov 9, 2017

Iraq After the Kurdish Referendum
Iraq

In the News

Nov 7, 2017

Alfoneh Quoted in Reuters on Iraqi and Iranian Infrastructure Network

By Ali Alfoneh

Read the full article here.

Iran Iraq

MENASource

Oct 27, 2017

Abadi’s balancing act between the US and Iran

By Harith Hasan

Not many heads of governments in the Middle East can move swiftly between Riyadh, Cairo, Amman, Ankara, and Tehran, and receive a warm welcome in all those capitals. Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, followed this itinerary in the last few days, trying to create the image of a competent leader who victoriously took Iraq out […]

Iran Iraq

In the News

Oct 20, 2017

Stein Quoted in Al Jazeera on The Kurdish Collapse in Kirkuk

By Aaron Stein

Read the full article here.

Iraq

MENASource

Oct 17, 2017

Intra-Kurdish division and Abadi’s options

By Harith Hasan

In the wake of the September 25 referendum in Kurdistan, the Iraqi government announced on October 15 that it began a military deployment to reestablish authority in Kirkuk in coordination with the Peshmerga. It soon became clear that the Peshmerga mentioned belonged to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—specifically, the Talabani family wing—which views aggressive […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Oct 17, 2017

Raqqa Falls. Now Comes the Hard Part

By Ashish Kumar Sen

As the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is driven from its strongholds in Syria, US-backed forces face the challenge of stabilizing these conflict-ravaged territories. This task is made more urgent by the fact that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Iran-backed militias are swooping in on eastern Syria in an attempt to capitalize […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Oct 17, 2017

Post referendum hangovers: The local aspects

By Sardar Aziz

As Tip O’Neill coined it, “all politics is local.” Accordingly, the local dimension of the Kurdistan referendum is a core aspect, but underplayed as the news focuses on regional and international repercussions. The internal political moves that led up to the referendum and the referendum’s results will define KRG politics in the near future, but […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Oct 16, 2017

Iraqi Operation Will Deepen Rift Among Kurds

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Iraqi government forces on October 16 seized vital oil fields and the city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces. The military action, which pits two US allies against each other, followed a September 25 referendum in which the Kurds voted for an independent state. The Iraqi government had declared the vote unconstitutional. Kirkuk, which is not […]

Iraq
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Marie Forestier 

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Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

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Afghanistan Defense Policy

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Nonresident Senior Fellow

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Elliot Ackerman

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empowerME Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

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Alia Brahimi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

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