Iraq

On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraq’s then prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, declared victory over ISIS. However, in the year since then Iraq has continued to face critical challenges, including an internally displaced person crisis and the legitimization of militia groups.

Eleven MEI scholars weigh in on the key Middle East policy issues for the year ahead.

Teahouses are at the heart of Kurdistan’s culture and are linked to the Kurdish collective memory of struggle and oppression, making them a central part of contesting narratives about progress, change, and tradition.

While OPEC and Russia-led non-OPEC members agreed to cut oil production last week by 1.2 million bpd, Riyadh’s ability to control the cartel and global oil prices is waning.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts discuss recent and upcoming events including the Iraq-Kurdistan pipeline deal, how the YPG partnership affects US-Turkey ties, and the new Russia-Turkey gas pipeline.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Charles Lister, Randa Slim, Jean-François Seznec, and Mirette F. Mabrouk provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including escalating tensions in Idlib, protests in Basra and their implications for Iraqi politics, a Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s loan to help make up for Aramco IPO revenue, and Egypt’s diplomatic outreach to China.

This paper examines ISIS’s actions, publications, and communications to determine its insurgency strategies and long-term organizational outlook, emphasizing sources that have been largely overlooked by forces fighting the group.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Gonul Tol, Robert S. Ford, Randa Slim, and Marvin G. Weinbaum provide analysis on Turkey’s currency crisis, talks in Ankara over the future of Idlib, Abadi’s chances of clinging to the premiership, and the Taliban’s capture of Ghazni.

Three months after Iraq held its latest parliamentary elections the results are still being counted. Meanwhile political parties are jockeying for power and Iraqi citizens are taking to the streets to protest the government’s handling of services and the economy. Dr. Abbas Kadhim, senior fellow at Johns Hopkins SAIS, Omar Al-Nidawi, Iraq director for Gryphon Partners, and Dr. Randa Slim, director of MEI’s Program on Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues, join host Paul Salem to discuss the situation.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts provide analysis on Fatah-Hamas reconciliation talks in Cairo, possible cooperation between the Syrian Democratic Council and the Assad regime, the protests in Iraq, the U.S.’s lifting of restrictions on aid to Egypt, and Imran Khan’s victory in the Pakistani elections.

A step forward for Palestinian reconciliation?
Nathan Stock, MEI Scholar

An Iranian-supported militia group in Iraq has threatened retaliation against the United States if Israel carries out any strikes against Iranian military personnel and assets inside Iraq,