Itani: Doubling Down on Disaster in Syria

MENASource
Jun 30, 2025

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

By
C. Anthony Pfaff

The future of US–Iraq relations is neither as dim as it may first appear, nor as promising as one might hope.

Geopolitics & Energy Security
Iran

Itani: Doubling Down on Disaster in Syria

MENASource
Jun 4, 2025

Why Iraq should build bridges with its ‘new’ neighbor, Syria

By
Shermine Serbest

Iraq’s position on the Syria transition is split between two camps: the official government, and that of the powerful non-state actors.

Iraq
Middle East

Itani: Doubling Down on Disaster in Syria

MENASource
Apr 17, 2025

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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Content

In the News

Oct 20, 2014

Itani: Doubling Down on Disaster in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani cowrites for Politico on the different policy prescriptions outlined by political pundits such as CNN’s Fareed Zakaria: 

Iraq Syria
US and Iraqi soldiers in Diyala province, Feb. 13, 2008

NATOSource

Oct 15, 2014

Washington Wants NATO Allies to Help Retrain the Iraqi Military

By Gopal Ratnam, Foreign Policy

The difficult and dangerous task of retraining Iraqi security forces to take on the Islamic State militants who’ve made impressive gains in the north and west of Iraq will require large numbers of trainers from the United States and NATO nations

Iraq NATO

New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2014

The US Fight Against ISIS: An Exercise in Futility?

By James Rupert

Fred Hof: US Policy Needs a Ground Game, and Here Are Two Ways to Build It The US military has escalated air strikes against the Islamist militant ISIS fighters who have been closing in on the Syrian town of Kobani and the nearby Turkish border, in large part because the Syrian civil war is now […]

Iraq Syria

In the News

Oct 11, 2014

Slavin on Iraq, Syria, Ebola

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin joins Voice of America’s Issues in the News to discuss ongoing developments in Syria, Iraq, and Hong Kong, as well as the threat of the Ebola virus: 

Iraq Syria

In the News

Oct 10, 2014

Mardini on Federalism in Iraq

By Ramzy Mardini

The Associated Press quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Ramzy Mardini on attempts by Iraq’s new government to empower the country’s local and provincial governments:

Iraq
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Barack Obama, Dec. 7, 2009

NATOSource

Oct 8, 2014

US Official Accuses Turkey of ‘Inventing Reason Not to Act’ Against Daesh

By Mark Landler, Anne Barnard, and Eric Schmitt, New York Times

While Turkish troops watched the fighting in Kobani through a chicken-wire fence, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that the town was about to fall and Kurdish fighters warned of an impending blood bath if they were not reinforced

Iraq Syria

Issue Brief

Oct 2, 2014

ISIS war game: The coming stalemate

By Bilal Y. Saab and Michael S. Tyson

On September 22, the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security conducted a war game to examine the type of strategic interaction that might ensue between the US-led coalition and Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) fighters over the next six months. The latest issue brief from the Brent Scowcroft Center on International […]

Iraq Syria

In the News

Sep 29, 2014

Hof on Intelligence Assessments of ISIS

By Frederic C. Hof

The Daily Telegraph quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic Hof on whether the US intelligence community was caught off guard by the Islamic State’s seemingly unexpected expansion into Iraq and Syria:

Iraq Syria
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, July 10, 2014

NATOSource

Sep 29, 2014

Defense Minister: Germany Unable to Meet NATO Commitments

By Deutsche Welle and AP

From Deutsche Welle:  Germany could not currently fulfill its NATO commitments in the event of an attack on a member of the alliance, owing in part to severe backlogs in replacement parts for its aircraft.

Germany Iraq

In the News

Sep 26, 2014

Slavin: Iraq Looking for an “Independent” Sunni Defense Minister

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Lobelog on Iraq’s search for an independent Sunni defense minister:

Iraq
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Marie Forestier 

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