Instead of treating it as an arena for great-power competition, the Levant is a shared political space in which local actors must define their own agenda.

Bafel Talabani: “we sometimes don’t even have institutions. We have personalities, that’s no way to run a country.”

Middle powers face “hard ceilings” that prevent them from becoming rule-setters. A policy debate on regional security dynamics

European Ambassadors to Iraq: “We want a stable, peaceful Iraq that is democratic, prosperous, and free of violent extremism.”

“Memoranda don’t build railways”: A policy debate with N Mladenov & A Al-Qadi

In Iraq, sectarian & ethnic alignments make exclusionary rule dangerous. A policy debate with former PM Haider Al-Abadi

The constitutionally available instrument of regionalization is administrative and territorial, not sectarian. A policy debate with leader of the Al-Hikma Movement Ammar Al-Hakim.