Defeating the Islamic State, in Iraq, must happen in phases. In the first instance, urban areas will have to be regained. Second, the large rural areas of Iraq will have to be brought back under control. Thirdly, local actors will still have to combat a prolonged and difficult insurgency
The political turmoil in 2014 have put an end to 10 years of robust economic growth in Iraq and the country is bound to recession. Baghdad must undertake structural reforms in order to navigate the new economic scenario ahead.
By 2020, the Kurdistan Region in Iraq will provide a leading example for the practice of good governance for the rest of the Middle East
Kurdistan is in need of solving its economic equation if it wants to develop as a state.
The Turkish government will not engage in policies of micromanagement unless convinced that a united and stable Syria will be the end result of it.
The US must show leadership in bringing local stakeholders together, and in dealing with the series of never-ending crises
The Erbil-Ankara relationship appears to remain firm, but just as Iraq will never be the same again in the wake of Mosul’s fall, nor will this “strategic” relationship.
Iraq’s jigsaw puzzle, forced together by the power of empires and ruthless dictators, cannot be governed from a central location without widening its rifts irreversibly.
