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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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Issue Brief

Dec 3, 2015

ISIS war game III: The final phase

By Bilal Y. Saab

September 2015 marked the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s speech outlining the administration’s strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Yet, ISIS celebrated in June its own first-year anniversary of setting up a state by conducting three nearly simultaneous terrorist operations in three different countries—France, Tunisia, and […]

Iraq Middle East

In the News

Dec 2, 2015

Hof on the Deployment of US Troops to Fight ISIS in Iraq

By Frederic C. Hof

Reuters quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the deployment of US special operation troops to Iraq following the deadly attacks in Paris:

Iraq

MENASource

Dec 1, 2015

Migrants, Extremism, and US Policy

By MENASource

An interview with Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns Migrants fleeing conflicts across the Middle East have washed up on European shores, but the global response–particularly after the terrorist incidents that took place in Paris two weeks ago–has left these refugees with few options. Stemming from a fear of terrorist infiltration, many countries are either in the […]

Iraq Syria

New Atlanticist

Nov 30, 2015

US Response to Migrant Crisis an ‘Existential Issue’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Former State Department official, R. Nicholas Burns, says United States needs to do more to help Syrian war refugees Americans need to repudiate the “deeply offensive” anti-migrant rhetoric coming from Republican presidential frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson that runs contrary to the founding principles of the United States of America, said R. Nicholas Burns, […]

European Union Germany

New Atlanticist

Nov 24, 2015

Turkey Shot Down a Russian Jet. Here’s Why it Matters.

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The downing of a Russian SU-24 fighter jet by Turkey after it violated Turkish airspace and ignored ten warnings exemplifies the danger of Russian military support for Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad. But it will also complicate French President François Hollande’s quest to include Moscow in a unified coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq […]

Iraq NATO

MENASource

Nov 23, 2015

FACTBOX: Evolution of the Islamic State’s Chemical Weapons Capacity

By Andrea Taylor

Days after the terror attack in Paris, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the French parliament the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) presents a “risk [to France] of chemical or bacteriological weapons.”

Iraq Syria

Defense Industrialist

Nov 23, 2015

Planes or train?

By James Hasik

Just “how can Canada best” contribute to the fight in Iraq and Syria? The Americans are bombing. The French are now bombing by the score. The British are slinging Brimstone. The Canadians will train the Peshmerga. That’s right—making good on a campaign promise, new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau still intends to withdraw the six F-18 […]

Iraq Syria

In the News

Nov 13, 2015

Slavin Joins Issues in the News

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin joins Voice of America’s Issues in the News to discuss the attack by Kurdish forces on ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq, the elections in Myanmar, Russia’s plan for Syria, and the republican presidential debate:

Iraq Russia

In the News

Nov 13, 2015

Hof on US Policy against ISIS in Syria

By Frederic Hof

The Atlantic quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the horrors of the Syrian conflict and why ISIS is an easier target in Syria than Iraq: 

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Nov 9, 2015

Recalling Ahmad Chalabi, The Man Who Wanted to Take Saddam’s Place

By Thomas Krajeski

Ahmad Chalabi leaned forward in his chair, his soft hands with their perfectly manicured nails splayed flat on the table between us. “Tom, you don’t understand,” he said in his perfect, virtually unaccented English. “I would do or say anything to persuade the United States to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam. Anything.”

Iraq

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