Games without Frontiers: Renegotiating the Boundaries of Power in Iraqi Kurdistan
Over the past year, intensifying political and economic conflicts between the Kurdistan Region’s two hegemonic parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, have challenged the legal and institutional order in which the Kurdistan Regional Government operates. A new generation of leadership within the parties, a fraught relationship with the federal government, and a prolonged economic crisis have strained the relationship between the two parties to its breaking point.
Changing the rules of the game: Reforming the party system in Iraq
The performance of Iraqi political parties over the past two decades can be assessed in how they manage three major transformations: the transition from an authoritarian political system to a democratic and pluralistic one, the participation of these parties in managing the transformation of the state from a central to a federal system and the smooth transition from a directed economy to a free market one, and the social transformation from an oppressed society to a free, productive, and reconciled one. Despite the great challenges faced by the various governments since 2003, the parties that participated in the political process (to varying degrees) were unable to succeed in managing these three transformations.
Although it has been more than 18 months since Iraq’s October 2019 protests, many of the big questions raised remain unanswered, most of which revolve around the sustainability of the post-2003 political system and its ability to correct itself over time.
في عام 2003 ، بعد الإطاحة بنظام صدام حسين ، كان لدى العراقيين آمال كبيرة في إحداث تغيير جوهري في حياتهم بعد ثلاثة عقود ونصف من الاستبداد. لكن في السنوات التي تلت ذلك ، لم تتحقق الكثير من هذه التوقعات.
“إذا كان الاجتماع الإيراني السعودي في بغداد نتيجة دبلوماسية عراقية قديرة وذكية، فإن مأساة المستشفى هي نتيجة للفساد المستشري في الطبقة السياسية وثقافة الإفلات من العقاب”.
Expert Views: The Biden administration and the Middle East: Reflecting on the first 100 days
At the end of Joe Biden’s first 100 days as president of the United States, where do things stand when it comes to U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa? We asked experts and scholars from across MEI to weigh in with their thoughts on the changes we’ve seen so far, the new challenges that have emerged, and what we know about the administration’s key priorities for the region.
Reflecting on the global effort to fight violence against women
On March 8, the world came together to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD), a barometer of annual development on global gender equality. This year, violence against women and women’s protection have been front and center on the political agenda across the world, including in the Middle East, as incidents of violence against them spark mass mobilization and anger from citizens. As civic activism grows, and citizens are increasingly politically and publicly engaged, women are fighting louder and harder than ever before to be a central voice in broader calls to action.
Political risk vs. risk to force: How policy decisions impact risk and capability in partner operations
Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military’s name for the international intervention to defeat ISIS in Syria and Iraq starting in 2014. While OIR has been a success, it has necessarily been imperfect. Throughout the campaign, cost-benefit calculations made by policymakers led to missed opportunities and possibly a longer conflict. These decisions will have lasting repercussions that could undermine the hard-won victory against ISIS, as well as the ability to partner in future interventions. In particular, the United States mishandled its partner relationships in the war to defeat ISIS. Political considerations apparently won out against supporting and sustaining the SDF, our military partner forces.
