NATO Greenlights New Defense Training Program for Iraq

Dispatches
Dec 10, 2025

Dispatch from Iraq: The biggest challenge awaiting the country’s next prime minister

By
Victoria J. Taylor 

A recent visit to Iraq following parliamentary elections reveals a growing divide between the political elite and the people.

Elections
Iraq

NATO Greenlights New Defense Training Program for Iraq

New Atlanticist
Nov 14, 2025

Experts react: How will Iraq’s parliamentary election shape the country’s politics?

By
Atlantic Council experts

Our experts examine what the results of Tuesday’s elections mean for the future of Iraqi politics and Baghdad’s regional role.

Civil Society
Democratic Transitions

NATO Greenlights New Defense Training Program for Iraq

Dispatches
Nov 10, 2025

Dispatch from Baghdad: Don’t confuse the calm around Iraq’s election with stability

By
Yerevan Saeed

Iraqi society faces several slow-burning stressors, from water and climate problems to over-centralization and narcotics trafficking.

Democratic Transitions
Elections

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.

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Content

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, July 28, 2015

NATOSource

Jul 31, 2015

NATO Greenlights New Defense Training Program for Iraq

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

NATO Allies have just agreed on a defence capacity building package for Iraq. It will help strengthen the country’s security and defence sector by providing support in areas where NATO is best-placed to add value.

Iraq
NATO
NATO meeting to discuss terrorists attacks in Turkey, July 28, 2015

NATOSource

Jul 29, 2015

Possible Division in NATO Over Turkey’s Attacks Against Kurds

By Julian Barnes, Joe Parkinson, and Ayla Albayrak, Wall Street Journal

As the NATO ambassadors met in Brussels, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan effectively declared the three-year-old peace process with the PKK over. His air force bombed militants affiliated with the group in the country’s southeastern Kurdish heartland.

Iraq
NATO

In the News

Jul 25, 2015

Ricciardone on Turkey Expanding Air Campaign

By Francis J. Ricciardone

The National quotes Vice President and Rafik Hariri Center Director Francis J. Ricciardone on Turkey expanding its cross-border strikes against ISIS in Syria to include Kurdish militant bases in northern Iraq:

Iraq
Syria

In the News

Jul 22, 2015

Lipke: How to Wage War Against ISIS Online

By Alexa Lipke

Transatlantic Security Initiative Intern Alexa Lipke writes for The National Interest on how to fight ISIS’s online influence:

Iraq
Syria

In the News

Jul 21, 2015

Hadley and Ricciardone on ISIS

By Atlantic Council

Vice President and Rafik Hariri Center Director Francis Ricciardone and former National Security Advisor and Middle East Strategy Task Force (MEST) Co-Chair Stephen Hadley join Voice of America to discuss ways to combat ISIS and the need for strong governance in Syria and Iraq to combat terrorism:

Iraq
Syria

MENASource

Jul 17, 2015

Washington and Tehran Remain at Odds in Iraq

By Aaron Stein

On Tuesday July 15, the P5+1 and Iran finalized an agreement that places significant limits on Iran’s nuclear program for the next twenty-five years.

Iran
Iraq
UK Gen. Sir Nicholas Houghton and US Gen. Martin Dempsey, Jan. 22, 2015

NATOSource

Jul 16, 2015

UK Defense Chief Sees Air Force Combat Jet Fleet Stretched

By Robert Wall, Wall Street Journal

Britain’s top military officer said Wednesday the country’s fleet of combat jets is stretched to the limit and could struggle to take on additional roles in fighting Islamist extremists in the Middle East without scaling back elsewhere.

Iraq
Syria

In the News

Jul 8, 2015

Mardini on US Military in Iraq

By Ramzy Mardini

The Washington Examiner quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Ramzy Mardini on the implications of US military involvement in Iraq, in light of the Obama administration’s pending decision to send more troops overseas: 

Iraq

In the News

Jul 5, 2015

Khoury: The Rise of the ISIS

By Nabeel Khoury

Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Nabeel Khoury writes for The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, reviewing journalist Patrick Cockburn’s book which records his observations on the ground in Syria and Iraq:

Iraq
Syria

MENASource

Jun 17, 2015

Protecting Refugees in Protracted Emergencies in the Middle East

By Bill Frelick

Um Ghassan was eleven in 1948 when her family fled Haifa. They joined the Palestinian exodus to Jordan, and later moved to Syria. “They welcomed us like we were their relatives,” she said. Decades later, when fighting broke out in Syria in 2011, Um Ghassan initially stayed in her house. “I would never leave my […]

Iraq
Libya
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Experts

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Omar Al-Nidawi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Energy & Environment

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Marie Forestier 

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic French

Expert

Jon Wilks

Distinguished Fellow, Transatlantic Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Crisis Management

Staff

Victoria J. Taylor 

Director, Iraq Initiative

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

Fellow

Rend Al-Rahim

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Democratic Transitions

Fellow

Yerevan Saeed

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Energy & Environment
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