Iraq
The Tigris-Euphrates Basin’s Water Crisis Is a Looming Disaster
In a dramatic display of collective frustration, the streets of Baghdad recently became a theatre of dissent as around 300 Iraqis took to Nisour Square to protest acute water shortages. The demonstrations...
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Iraq’s New Cabinet
A year after holding its parliamentary election and two months after a quick round of civil war, Iraq finally got a new cabinet that is—like everything else in Iraqi politics—full...
Iraq Elects New President, Ending Year-Long Political Crisis
Lawmakers in Iraq elected Abdul Latif Rashid, a Kurdish politician from the country’s north and a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, as Iraq’s next president—choosing him...
Iraq’s Sadrists Retreat From Green Zone After Violent Unrest
Iraqi supporters of the influential Shia cleric-turned-political leader Muqtada al-Sadr have left Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone following a day of extreme violence in which thirty people were killed and...
Muqtada al-Sadr Orders Supporters Home After Iraq Clashes Kill 30
Iraq erupted in violence on Monday after prominent Shia cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced that he would permanently retire from politics—prompting thousands of his supporters to march on...
What Does Muqtada al-Sadr Really Want in Iraq?
Just two decades ago, few Americans knew who Muqtada al-Sadr was. This was not because of their ignorance of Iraq. After all, few Iraqis knew who he was. A growing...
Muqtada al-Sadr Is Pushing Iraq’s Democracy to the Brink
Currently, Iraq is in chaos. Muqtada al-Sadr refuses to negotiate over forming the next government and is preventing the Iraqi Parliament from electing a prime minister and president. Meanwhile, his...
Eight Years After Genocide, the World Owes the Yezidis a Debt
When the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019, the world breathed a sigh of relief. The terror group...
Iraqi Prime Minister Visits Saudi Arabia and Iran in Bid to Ratchet Down Tensions
Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi landed in Iran on Sunday for high-level talks with his Iranian counterparts—a trip that came immediately after Kadhimi visited Saudi Arabia as part of a...
Kadhimi Should Defend Iraq’s Sovereignty, Not Help Its Abusers
Iraq is under daily assault. As Turkey demands more F-16 fighters from the United States, it uses its existing supply not to target the Islamic State or defend its borders...
Operation Claw-Lock: The Iran-Turkey Contest for Iraq Heats Up
Turkey launched Operation Claw-Lock, the latest of its military operations targeting the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraqi Kurdistan, on April 17, 2022. The operation coincides with an Iraqi military...
Iraq in Crisis: Why the Sinjar Agreement Failed
On May 2, clashes broke out between the Iraqi Army and the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a Yezidi armed group established to defend Iraq’s Sinjar region from ISIS in 2014....