The Rules-Based Order Is Breaking Down. What Comes Next?
In a volatile and unpredictable international system, great powers are giving up on diplomacy while middle powers are seeking alternatives
Policy Brief
New government, old constraints: What Baghdad needs to do to tame pro-Iran militias in Iraq
Pursue & implement far-reaching structural reforms, including PMF integration, or risk a slide into intensified confrontation with the US
Intersecting Identities and the Need for Reconciliation in the Levant and Iraq
The future of the Levant and Iraq cannot be built solely through top-down settlements. It requires a profound intellectual “surgery” targeting the collective consciousness
The Turkish-Kurdish Peace Process and Its Regional Implications
The new Erdogan-Ocalan initiative to end a five-decade-long conflict has the potential to reshape the dynamics of the Middle East.
Current Dynamics in Syria and the Way Forward
Recent events in Syria represent a turning point in the history of the Middle East, where internal dynamics are intertwined with regional and international ones.
Without a Federation Council, State-building in Iraq remains elusive
The unicameral legislature’s dominance has contributed to the country’s fragility, but a constitutionally mandated solution to this problem already exists
Expelling US forces from Iraq will be bad for all stakeholders – including Iran
Baghdad needs to maintain western troop presence as well as keep Tehran on side. There is a way forward
Erbil-Baghdad relations: Twenty years since the regime change
Since 2003, outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil have gone through various phases & taken different forms, with critical milestones characterising and shaping an uneasy relationship.