Programs

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.

Top experts

Content

MENASource

May 25, 2016

The Non-Option of Disengagement from the Middle East

By Frederic C. Hof

In 2003 American forces successfully took Baghdad, but without the benefit of a ‘day after’ civil-military stabilization plan. The unintended results: a chaotic occupation, a vicious insurgency, the premature withdrawal of the United States from Iraq in 2011, and the subsequent rise of the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh). This and other disappointments—Libya 2011 (again […]

Iraq Libya

In the News

May 23, 2016

Knights Joins NPR to Discuss the Security of Baghdad

By Michael Knights

Iraq Task Force Member Michael Knights joins NPR to discuss the weakened security of Baghdad amid Iraqi operations to retake Fallujah. Read the full article here.

Iraq

In the News

May 19, 2016

Findings from Iraq Task Force Trip to Iraq Featured by Brookings

By Kenneth Pollack

Brookings features findings of Iraq Task Force trip to Iraq with Iraq Task Force members Kenneth Pollack and Michael Knights. Read the full article here.

Iraq

In the News

May 18, 2016

Younis Quoted by Voice of America on US Aid Against ISIS in Iraq

By Nussaibah Younis

Read the full article here.

Iraq

In the News

May 16, 2016

Connable Writes for War on the Rocks about Calls for Partition in Iraq

By Atlantic Council

Iraq Task Force Member Ben Connable writes for War on the Rocks about the need for partition advocates to either present clear recommendations or to support a unified Iraq. Read the full article here.

Iraq

MENASource

May 16, 2016

A Global Resettlement Scheme for Refugees in the EU

By Solon Ardittis

On May 4, 2016, the European Commission (EC) presented a draft regulation intended to overhaul the existing Dublin Regulation that has dictated the asylum application system in Europe for the past 20 years. By introducing a “fairness mechanism,” the idea was to establish a new system that imbibes solidarity among the EU member states.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 13, 2016

Contributions to NATO More Than Just Budgetary, says Canada’s Defense Minister

By Ashish Kumar Sen

NATO member states’ defense expenditure must be measured in much more than just budgetary terms, Canada’s Defense Minister, Harjit Sajjan, said on May 12. “We had 158 soldiers who died, sacrificed, in Afghanistan. This is a contribution that we made,” Sajjan, a veteran of the Afghan war, said in a brief interaction with journalists at […]

Iraq NATO

In the News

May 11, 2016

Younis Quoted by Voice of America on Radicalization in Iraq

By Nussaibah Younis

Read the full article here.

Iraq

MENASource

May 9, 2016

Muqtada al-Sadr’s Changing Role in an Unchanging Iraq

By Nabeel Khoury

In a speech a day after his followers stormed Iraq’s parliament, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr described the move as a gesture of civil disobedience in rejection of Iraq’s political class and the sectarian division of power and corruption within it. The protesters tore up papers, ransacked offices, and kicked furniture around, with some reports of […]

Iraq

In the News

May 6, 2016

Younis Joins Voice of America to Discuss the Challenges Facing the Iraqi Government

By Nussaibah Younis

Listen to the full interview here.

Iraq

Experts