Tag: Iraq

Iraqi Kurdistan at the Crossroads?

     

With a referendum on independence in speculation for autumn 2017, Iraqi Kurdistan stands at a crucial political juncture that has global implications. The increasing autonomy of the region promises to… Read more »

Post 9/11 wars not about promoting democracy, says Condoleezza Rice

     

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that U.S.-led interventions in the Middle East and Central Asia were not about spreading democracy, but about addressing regional security issues, Newsweek… Read more »

Rebuilding Syria (and Iraq): Reconstruction and Legitimacy

     

On the sixth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, moderate rebels have never been weaker, analyst Charles Lister writes for Foreign Policy. Within two years of its resurgence, the Islamic State… Read more »

The Islamic State: Between Aspirations and Reality

     

“Democracy is stronger than organizations like ISIS,” U.S. President Barack Obama said today, using one of the names for Islamic State. Democracy is why the United States welcomes “people of… Read more »

Beyond Dysfunction and Devastation: Iraq, the Arab Spring, and Lessons for Today

     

Kanan Makiya* has been described as the Arab world’s “Solzhenitsyn” for courageously bearing witness to unspeakable cruelty, notes the Foreign Policy Research Institute. His new critically acclaimed novel, The Rope, is… Read more »

Reclaiming Mosul: concerns about politics the ‘day after’

     

An array of Iraqi forces, backed by a broad international coalition, is closing in on the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, united in their determination to crush the jihadists but… Read more »