ERBIL May 30, 2016 – A new World Bank Group report proposes a series of reforms to enable Iraq’s Kurdistan Region to chart a path out of the difficult economic challenges it faces toward a more sustainable and diversified economic future. The combination of factors that have recently placed more pressure on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) include fiscal crisis, close proxi
Read MoreIraq has positively surprised oil majors by starting quickly to repay accumulated debts, the head of Russia's Lukoil said, pledging more investment to allow OPEC's second-largest producer to maintain stellar output growth. Iraq has become the world's fastest-growing oil producer with output up 50 percent since it signed contracts worth tens of billions of dollars with the li
Read MoreIraq's transition from autocracy to multiparty elections has made it something of a test case in the Arab world. Although the Sunni-Shia divide has created difficult obstacles to good governance, it has led to a wider embrace of power sharing, at least as a political principle. Iraq's Islamist parties play a dominant role in politics, but pose less of a threat to democracy th
Read MorePolitical and economic turmoil point to a protracted displacement crisis that will get worse before it gets better. As the Iraqi security forces began their assault on ISIS-controlled Fallujah, the city's remaining inhabitants were advised to flee. They will join the millions of Iraqis who have been displaced by conflict, adding to a crisis that merits much more attention th
Read MoreOne is no longer in the job, the other is almost out. Yet a rule that forces locals to hang portraits of senior politicians in their offices remains in force. Locals debate whether that is a good thing for democracy. A Hanging Offence: Iraqi Kurdistan’s Political History, As Told In Portraits Honar Hama Rasheed One is no longer in the job, the other is almost out.
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