
Iraq’s Permanent Mobilization
RENAD MANSOUR — The most powerful groups within the PMU existed long before ISIS, and will continue to build influence. Continue reading “Iraq’s Permanent Mobilization”
RENAD MANSOUR — The most powerful groups within the PMU existed long before ISIS, and will continue to build influence. Continue reading “Iraq’s Permanent Mobilization”
MICHAEL KNIGHTS — To manage complex security challenges after ISIS, Baghdad should look to the pre-2014 period for guidance. Continue reading “Back to Iraq’s Future”
Today, the status of Iraqi armed groups remains ambiguous despite Baghdad’s attempts to integrate them into the military command structure — a situation that highlights the complex, multifaceted, and poorly-understood roles they will play in Iraq’s political, social, and military development after ISIS. Continue reading “The Future for Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units”
BILAL WAHAB — Stabilizing post-ISIS Iraq will require economic reform in addition to any political settlement. Continue reading “Rules of the Iraqi Game”
JOOST HILTERMANN — In northern Iraq, Turkey and Iran are dangerously playing their proxies against each other.
Continue reading “Proxy War in Post-ISIL Iraq”
In Tal Afar, an overstretched Iraqi Army leaves regional powerbrokers and their proxies room to fight, with little chance of mediation.
Continue reading “Tal Afar: Spark for a Turkey-Iran Proxy War?”
KENNETH POLLACK — The same political mistakes that sparked Iraq’s conflict in 2006 and 2014 threaten to tear the country apart again.
Continue reading “Cycles of Crisis”
MADAWI AL-RASHEED — Limited social and political reforms in Saudi Arabia only prolong the life of authoritarianism. Continue reading “Mystique of Monarchy”
DAVID B. ROBERTS — A proclivity for adventurism in Riyadh, Doha, and Abu Dhabi may strain existing inefficiencies within a disunited GCC. Continue reading “Confusion in the Gulf”
MICHAEL KNIGHTS — Iraq lacks credible national leadership, and that may be alright. Continue reading “One Million Man Moment”
FANAR HADDAD — Iraq’s sectarian competition has been much more about differences in national truths than religious ones. Continue reading “Myths and Marginalization”
RODGER SHANAHAN — As the country wobbles, Lebanon’s “Party of God” advances narrow, sectarian interests as its regional capabilities increase. Continue reading “Hezbollah’s New Ground”
ABBAS MILANI — In their efforts to forge a national identity Iran’s leaders have revealed deep chasms between social and political realities in the Islamic State. Continue reading “Between Definitions and Identities”
Information at a glance from one of the P-WW’s contributors, Harith al-Qarawee, on the current developments in Iraq.
HARITH HASAN — A misguided discourse hides the deep secular and political roots of Iraq’s dramatic dissolution. Continue reading “Beyond the Sect”
Few events of the last decade have loomed as large in US politics as the US decision to invade Iraq … Continue reading Lessons from the US War in Iraq: Ten Years Later
SHIRO WACHIRA – Is Iran barking up the wrong tree in Africa? Continue reading “Opinion: The Second Scramble”
COLIN KAHL – If Iran obtains nuclear weapons, it would destabilize the region. But it could also destabilize itself. And forget about it sharing those secrets with its proxies. Continue reading “Why Not to Attack Iran”
MATTHEW KROENIG – Attacking Iran might be risky, but the alternative is far worse.
AARON DAVID MILLER – The problem with Mideast peace is that the conditions for it simply do not exist yet. Continue reading “On Mideast Peace”
AARON HAHN TAPPER – It is impossible to separate religious determination from a people’s will, especially in democracy.
Continue reading “Religion and Politics”
ABBAS MILANI – Iranian leaders today are learning all the wrong lessons from the Shah’s demise. Continue reading “Iranian History Lesson”