Kirkuk Policy Research

The project will provide first-hand research on the situation in Kirkuk with an aim to put forward recommendations that can be offered to the KRG, the residents of Kirkuk and Baghdad for workable solutions to the current situation.

Relevant publications:
The Price of Failure
As Battles Rage in Kirkuk, Political Solutions are Needed

Good intentions, mixed results – A conflict sensitive unpacking of the EU comprehensive approach to conflict and crisis mechanisms

EUNAPACK is an EU funded (under Horizon 2020) multi-disciplinary research project, carried out by a consortium of 12 highly experienced partner institutes: Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs (NUPI), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Freie University Berlin (FUB), Comenius University in Bratislava, the University of Manchester, the Alliance for Building Governance in Africa (ARGA), National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS),  Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Middle East Research Institute (MERI), Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), San’t Anna School of Advanced Studies.

Website:  EUNPACK.eu

DRIVERS FOR ONWARD MIGRATION: THE CASE OF IRAQI IDPS IN THE KURDISTAN REGION LEAVING THE COUNTRY

The collaborative project between MERI, Qandil and the Joint Crisis Coordination Centre seeks to unravel the extent to which and under what conditions internal displacement in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq becomes onward migration outside Iraq. Funded by the he Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under the security and rule of law programme, the project aims at providing the necessary evidence to better address displacement within and from fragile and conflict-affected settings and turn this evidence into policy recommendations.

Emergency Security Briefings

MERI’s Emergency Security Briefings provide updates on the current security and political crisis in Iraq.

Relevant publications:
Emergency Briefing on current Security Developments
MERI Emergency Security Briefing

The Future of EU-Turkey Relations: Mapping Dynamics and Testing Scenarios

FEUTURE is an EU funded (under Horizon 2020) multi-disciplinary research project, carried out by a consortium of 15 highly experienced partner institutes from the EU (CETEUS, CIDOB, CIFE, DIIS, Eliamep, IAI, TEPSA), Turkey (EDAM, Bilgi, Koc, METU, Sabanci) and Iraq (MERI), Georgia (CRRC) and Egypt (AUC). The aim is to assess and analyse future prospects of EU-Turkey relations, and in consideration of the neighbourhood that is unravelling to the east and south and a power shift that can be detected at global level

Website:  FEUTURE.eu

Liberating Mosul: Pre and Post Factors for Consideration

The aim of this project is to develop recommendations for the various actors involved in the liberation of Mosul. The key point being that the structural and political issues need to be addressed alongside the military plan for Mosul and before any military engagement. Additionally, this project places importance on the development of a detailed post-conflict reconstruction plan.

Relevant publications:
Private: The Future of Mosul: Before, During, and After the Liberation
Governing Nineveh After the Islamic State: A Solution for All Components
Roundtable on “The Future of Mosul: Before, During, and After the Liberation”
And the Marginalisation goes on: Iraq and the Politics of Domination
The Battle for Mosul: Pre and Post ‘Liberation’ Planning
Liberating Mosul and the Future of Ninewa
Defeating the Islamic State will take more than Gunpowder

Perceptions of Reconciliation and Conflict Among Iraqi Minority Groups

This research aims at understanding perceptions of reconciliation and conflict among five minority groups in the North of Iraq. Those groups include Christians, Yazidis, Shabaks, Turkmen, and Sabean-Mandaeans. The Islamic State’s advances in 2014, paired with the political and economic crises that have bedevilled Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, exacerbated communal relationships among the communities who have been living in the North of Iraq and may incite new tensions if left unchecked. The Middle East Research Institute (MERI), in conjunction with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) seeks to examine intra- and inter- relationships among those minority groups as well as their relations with both The Central Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.