Normalisation in Ankara-Baghdad Relations: A New Era?
January 26th, 2017 by MERI
This policy brief argues that the main challenge for the normalisation of Ankara-Baghdad relations lies with the fact that a win-win scenario of overlapping or complementary interests does not seem to be driving the leaderships’ actions.
The Catch-22 in Nineveh: The Regional Security Complex Dynamics between Turkey and Iran
December 22nd, 2016 by MERI
This paper argues that the future political stability of Nineveh depends on a two-level normalisation.
The Future of the Middle East
December 20th, 2016 by MERI
Policy makers of Iraq and the KRI who wish to pursue paths of their own design, must look carefully at the trends in power dynamics and the policies of the global and regional powers before designing their strategies.
Could the Trump Administration Mean a New Beginning for the Kurds?
December 17th, 2016 by MERI
This Policy Paper discusses some of the Trump administration’s most likely foreign policy advisers and their positions on Kurdish self-governance.
Education as a way out of IS: Deradicalisation in Mosul
December 7th, 2016 by MERI
Without sufficient deradicalisation policies, including within the education system, the narrative of the Islamic State will lie dormant or transform, creating the potential for another extremist group to emerge.
Iran and its Opposition Kurdish Parties: The Need for Dialogue
December 4th, 2016 by MERI
Considering the new political realities of the region and the domination of US politics by the Republicans after the recent election, Iran should engage in dialogue with its Kurdish opposition parties.
A Transitioning Turkey: Out with the Old, in with the New?
December 1st, 2016 by MERI
Turkey is experiencing a crisis of orientation in its internal and external affairs as a result of a transition between a dying and an emerging vision.
The Reconstruction of Islamic State-Liberated Areas
November 28th, 2016 by MERI
This policy brief analyses the current status of international financial assistance to Iraq and identifies the conditions that can turn the reconstruction process into an opportunity
The Day After: Governing the KRI
November 21st, 2016 by MERI
Once IS is defeated key political and economic issues long neglected in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI) will come to the fore.
Trump’s Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Four Key Issues
November 15th, 2016 by MERI
Donald Trump, the next President of the United States, will soon be confronted with the difficulty of translating campaign rhetoric regarding his foreign policy in the Middle East

