The US administration appears to have great expectations for Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali Falah al-Zaidi. But the expectations need to be tempered.
After months of deadlock following the November 2025 elections, Iraq’s parliament approved a new government under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on May 14, 2026 — just as the country has become a battleground in the US-Israel-Iran war. Zaidi inherits a daunting brief: reviving a struggling economy, reining in armed factions, and steering Iraq through a perilous regional landscape. Dr. Renad Mansour, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme and director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House, joins host Alistair Taylor to discuss the war’s impact on Iraq — from Iran’s militia networks to the surge of attacks on the Kurdistan region — and how it’s reshaping Baghdad’s ties with Tehran and Washington.
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.
Mark N. Katz, examines the impact of the current and future US withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan on Islamic radicals. Katz argues that the US withdrawals from both countries will lead radicals to conclude they have defeated the US in the "War on Terror" and that US regional strength is on the decline. This, he argues, will spur Islamic radicals to seek further gains elsewhere. But regardless of the boost to their cause that the withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan may provide, they will likely meet three key obstacles in their pursuit of increased power and influence.
This Opinion piece first appeared in Frontline’s Tehran Bureau on January 19, 2012.
After months of frosty relations, Iran and Turkey are talking again. The ostensible reason for Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to Tehran two weeks ago was to try to jump start stalled nuclear talks with the so-called P5+1 group of nations. Davutoglu conveyed to Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili the European Union’s invitation to resume the talks in Turkey that were suspended a year ago for lack of progress.
The Arab Spring: Implications for US Policy and Interests
In the wake of the August 31 drawdown of US forces and the formation of a fragile unity government after months of negotiations, the December 2010 Bulletin features an argument from Ambassador David Mack for sustained US assistance to the Iraqi government, interviews with MEI Scholar Charles Dunne the political situation in Iraq and with Katherine Blue Carroll on her forthcoming MEJ article, and a summary of MEI’s 64th Annual Conference.
Originally posted September, 2011
For nearly eight years — since May 2004 — the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has partnered with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to help Iraq re-establish its behavioral health service system. HHS and SAMHSA have learned much from this effort about improving behavioral health services in the US, particularly for Muslim populations and for persons experiencing extended trauma.
Through the collaboration between Iraq and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), US providers have learned a great deal about improving behavioral health services, including trauma services, from their Iraqi colleagues since 2004.[1] Two of the many implications for US behavioral health services resulting from this partnership are directly relevant to shaping services for both returning veterans, and refugees and immigrants from the Middle East:
F. Stephen Larrabee, Distinguished Chair in European Security at the RAND Corporation, and Gonul Tol, Executive Director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies, highlight the importance of drafting a new civilian constitution to solve Turkey’s Kurdish issue.
The Middle East Institute is proud to host Ben Lando, Iraq Bureau Chief of the Iraq Oil Report, which provides business, political and security analysis on Iraq. Lando will discuss Iraq's potential within the global oil sector, as well as the political and security concerns that could affect oil supply, growth, security and policy in Iraq now and in the future. Lando will also touch upon relations between Iraq and its neighbours, as well as key domestic issues such as the Arab-Kurdish conflict.
The Middle East Institute is proud to host Ben Lando, Iraq Bureau Chief of the Iraq Oil Report, which provides business, political and security analysis on Iraq. Lando will discuss Iraq's potential within the global oil sector, as well as the political and security concerns that could affect oil supply, growth, security and policy in Iraq now and in the future. Lando will also touch upon relations between Iraq and its neighbors, as well key domestic issues such as the Arab-Kurdish conflict.
The Middle East Institute, in partnership with the Fondation Pour le Recherche Strategique, is proud to host Dr. Susanne Schmeidl and Dr. Geraldine Chatelard for a discussion of situations of protracted mass displacement in Afghanistan and Iraq. Funded by the European Commission, the project aims to generate policy recommendations that will strengthen transatlantic cooperation to respond to the refugee crises in the above-mentioned countries. The event will feature the findings of the two project team leaders, based on more than two dozen field-research papers.
This Commentary first appeared in the American Interest's Middle East Blog on January 13, 2011.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
