BAGHDAD — Eighteen years after the U.S. invasion that deposed Saddam Hussein, Iraq offers a long, painful story about the limits of American power. But Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will visit the White House this month to urge President Biden to keep trying — by maintaining a U.S. military commitment to a country that straddles the fault lines of the Middle East. Kadhim
Read MoreSunday was a festive day in Baghdad. The last time Iraqis had received an Egyptian president 30 years ago, the region was gearing up for war and uncertainty as the late President Hosni Mubarak shuttled between Baghdad and Gulf capitals prior to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The circumstances were quite different on June 27, when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el
Read MoreA recent Bloomberg news report entitled Iraq Aims to Go Nuclear to Resolve Crippling Power Shortages[1] revealed that Iraq is planning to build 8 nuclear reactors to generate electricity to close an expected electricity supply gap of 50% by 2030. The news report quoted Dr. Kamal Hussain Latif, Chairman of the Iraqi Radioactive Sources Regulatory Authority (IRSRA) saying that th
Read MorePolitically sanctioned corruption and barriers to reform in Iraq. By Toby Dodge and Dr Renad Mansour
Politically sanctioned corruption and barriers to reform in Iraq. By Toby Dodge and Dr Renad Mansour This paper explores the pernicious effects of politically sanctioned corruption on governance in Iraq. This type of corruption is more consequential for the coherence of the state, and for its everyday functioning, than petty or personal corruption. It is the key barrier to r
Read MoreGeneva - More than 1.2 million Iraqis are still internally displaced persons (IDPs), despite military operations against the Islamic State organization (ISIS) ending nearly four years ago, a new Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor report said. Entitled “Exiled at Home”, the report documents the conditions of the internally displaced Iraqis on a humanitarian level. In add
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