Iraq

Iraq in Between Iran and the United States
  • Podcast

    • Iraq in Between Iran and the United States

    Hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow Amb. (ret.) Robert S. Ford to examine what is at stake for Iraq in the Iran war. The only country to have been hit by both sides, Iraq is caught in the middle of a regional conflict, with the local Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) carrying out attacks on American interests and personnel — and the US responding. This escalation comes at a period of internal political transition in Iraq, which has been locked in negotiations to form a new government since the November 2025 elections. Ford, who served as Deputy and later Acting Ambassador in Baghdad from 2008 until 2010, unpacks how Iraq is navigating the current moment, how the Kurdistan region fits into this equation, and what this all means for the future of US-Iraqi relations.

    April 9, 2026

    Alistair Taylor, Matthew Czekaj

    Iraq’s oil paralysis: A self-inflicted wound and a gift to Tehran
    Photo by Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
  • Commentary

    • Iraq’s oil paralysis: A self-inflicted wound and a gift to Tehran

    With the Strait of Hormuz closed and oil production from Iraq’s south in free fall, Baghdad’s failure to maximize the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline is no longer a policy dispute. It is a national emergency.

    March 16, 2026

    Yerevan Saeed

    The Transatlantic Alliance Will Survive Just Fine
  • Commentary

    • The Transatlantic Alliance Will Survive Just Fine

    Media and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are hyping the idea that President Trump’s attempt to gain sovereign control of Greenland has caused unprecedented and irreparable damage to the over 75 year-old Transatlantic Alliance.  This “analysis” stems from multiple sources.  On both sides of the ocean, there are those who pounce on any deviation from the norm by Trump as evidence the world as we know it is ending. And in Europe, there is the human but unattractive reaction of weak, dependent states against their one powerful ally when it rejects Europe’s preferred script. Much of the US media criticism is summarized by the concept that our other NATO allies can never again “trust” the US.

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    China’s Iraq Oil Strategy Comes Into Sharper Focus
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • China’s Iraq Oil Strategy Comes Into Sharper Focus

    “…Despite the inherent risks in dealing with complex and unstable markets such as Iraq, Chinese investors have been gaining a foothold in the country’s energy sector and in doing so have begun to face a unique set of challenges. In addition to having to navigate a tumultuous political and security environment, China is engaging a country that for a long period of time remained effectively under U.S. military occupation even as the central Iraqi government operated under a framework of limited sovereignty …

    May 10, 2013

    Chris Zambelis

    Investing in Iraq: Prospects and Challenges
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • Investing in Iraq: Prospects and Challenges

    Companies from Asia are beating their European and American rivals in investments in Iraq. Being more prone to risk-taking, they are cashing in on the opportunity to establish businesses that would be profitable in the long-term.

    February 21, 2013

    Sujata Ashwarya Cheema Cheema

    Reconciliation Efforts in Iraq—Reversals and Paradoxes
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • Reconciliation Efforts in Iraq—Reversals and Paradoxes

    For the benefits of reconstruction to take hold in today’s Iraq, it is essential to avoid   oversimplified arguments that merely “fixing” ethno-sectarian tensions will be sufficient to attain the goal of political stability.   A broader approach, which recognizes the country’s current ethno-sectarian polarization as both a symptom and a cause of instability would be a far more appropriate means of addressing the deep-rooted problems faced by Iraqis since 2003.

    January 25, 2013

    Sulaiman Wasty, Christine Martin

    Introduction to Iraq's Refugees and IDP Crisis: Human Toll and Implications
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • Introduction to Iraq's Refugees and IDP Crisis: Human Toll and Implications

    Originally posted July 2008

    In the comparatively short time since the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1920, the country has experienced successive waves of forced migration. Yet the magnitude of the forced displacement of Iraqis from their homes since 2003 is unprecedented. In addition to the still dire humanitarian situation are the potentially far-reaching negative implications of the refugee/IDP crisis for the future of Iraq and the Middle East as a whole.

    October 11, 2012

    Nasir Ahmed Al-Samaraie, Nabil Al-Tikriti…

    Iraq’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Scale, Plight, and Prospects
  • Analysis

    • Iraq’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Scale, Plight, and Prospects

    Originally posted July 2008

    Over the past several decades, and especially in the past two years, Iraq has suffered from one of the worst displacement crises in the world.

    While new displacement has slowed to a trickle in 2008, the conditions of those already displaced continue to deteriorate, and prospects for those returning to their homes are grim. The plight of internally displaced Iraqis and those who have crossed international borders in search of refuge remains largely unknown and unaddressed.

    October 11, 2012

    Dana Graber Ladek

    Iraq and the Politics of Oil
    Middle East Institute

    Iraq and the Politics of Oil

    August 16 – January 1, 1970, August 16 - 3:00 PM – 12:00 AM
    January 1 - 3:00 PM – 12:00 AM

    SEIU Building, 1800 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20036

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