Itani: US Priority in Iraq is to Stabilize Security Situation

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.

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Itani: US Priority in Iraq is to Stabilize Security Situation

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
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Itani: US Priority in Iraq is to Stabilize Security Situation

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
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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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Content

In the News

Jun 14, 2014

Itani: US Priority in Iraq is to Stabilize Security Situation

By Faysal Itani

The National quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on what choices the United States faces concerning the deteriorating situation in Iraq: 

Iraq

Defense Industrialist

Jun 13, 2014

Gunships against ISIS

By James Hasik

The AC-130 isn’t a functional replacement for the A-10C, but could it be a political one? This past Monday, Lt. Col. Paul Darling of the Alaska Army National Guard wrote an editorial in Defense News arguing—and as an infantry officer—that the USAF’s A-10C should indeed be retired. The savings, he said, should be reinvested in two programs: a replacement […]

Iraq
Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jun 13, 2014

A Strategy for Syria & Iraq

By Barry Pavel

The spread of the Syria crisis to engulf Iraq was predicted and predictable.  Some have called the Syria conflict a “factory for extremism.”  For years, many have been urging more robust US leadership and action in this crisis – not “boots on the ground” but using US military forces in a coalition with our allies and partners to […]

Iraq
Syria

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

Syrian Rebels Unite to Fight Off an ISIS Eastward Push

By Karen Leigh

As fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) prepared to march towards Baghdad on Friday, the often fragmented forces of Syria’s opposition formed a coalition to ward off the group’s anticipated expansion into the east.

Iraq
Syria

In the News

Jun 13, 2014

Itani on Whether the United States will Engage in Iraq

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani joins Al Arabiya to discuss the likelihood of US military involvement as the situation in Iraq deteriorates:

Iraq

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

Syria: The Impact of ISIS In Iraq

By Frederic C. Hof

As the Obama administration considers a significant change of policy direction for Syria, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)—one of the more vicious of al-Qaeda franchises—runs amok in Iraq, cashing in on the profound rot personified by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It seems that nothing in the Middle East stands still long […]

Iraq
Syria

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

Kurds Poised to Benefit From Baghdad’s Failures

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Despite the incredible gains that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has made in Iraq in the past few days, the Kurdish government has lent its security forces to aid in pushing the paramilitary group out of the north. But with the abandonment of Iraqi army posts, the Kurdish authority may now have […]

Iraq
Syria

MENASource

Jun 13, 2014

After Mosul?

By Ramzy Mardini

The United States pulled its remaining troops out from Iraq two and a half years ago, ending a military occupation that lasted almost a decade. The civil war in Syria has become the strategic driver shaping the security dynamics across the Levant, and has breathed new life into militancy in Iraq, rejuvenating the confidence, resources, […]

Iraq
Syria

In the News

Jun 13, 2014

Itani: Maliki Partly to Blame for Escalating Iraq Crisis

By Faysal Itani

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani is quoted by Agence France-Presse on latest developments in the march towards Baghdad by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and potential US involvement in the growing crisis: 

Iraq
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, June 3, 2014

NATOSource

Jun 12, 2014

NATO Secretary General Says Sees No Role for Alliance in Iraq

By Reuters

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday he saw no role for Western alliance in Iraq after Islamist militants seized swathes of territory in the country and took 80 Turkish citizens hostage.

Iraq
NATO
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Safwan Al-Amin

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