Basra, dystopian city. By Peter Harling

BASRA, THE SECOND or third largest city in Iraq, should be a great metropolis, more dynamic than Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Kuwait City, and should dominate the Gulf. Its port, Umm Qasr, offers the rest of the world access to one of the biggest oil-producing countries, which is also a huge potential consumer market. Hydrocarbons are abundant in the area, and the deposits are c

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What it will cost to rebuild Iraq. By Omar al-Jaffal*

BAGHDAD — “Ramadi has turned into ruins,” said Ouda, a soldier who has been fighting in the Iraqi army’s Seventh Division since mid-2015. Ouda took part in the liberation of Anbar province from the Islamic State (IS), which took hold of the city of Ramadi in May 2015. Al-Monitor met Ouda (a pseudonym), who is a resident of Baghdad, in one of the cafes of the capital during his

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IMF sees improvement in Iraq, despite several problems

The Fund’s mission met with representatives of the Iraqi government. Conflicts and oil’s low prices drove the country’s GDP down 2.1% in 2015, but the organization sees improvement in fiscal policies. São Paulo – In the last few days, a mission from the INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) met with representatives from the Iraqi government in AMMAN, Jordan, for a Staff-Monitored

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World Bank: Social and Economic Inclusion Key to Stability in Iraq

BAGHDAD, March 26, 2016 –World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim told a special session of the Iraqi parliament today that the path to stability and shared growth in Iraq lay in empowering local governments, opening up and diversifying the economy, and improving the management of public finances by reforming the public sector and increasing accountability. The speech came duri

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