FOREWORD This paper builds on the “Impact of the Oil Crisis and COVID-19 on Iraq’s Fragility” published in August 2020 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It explored how the COVID-19 pandemic and diminishing oil revenues are affecting various dimensions of Iraq’s fragility. A series of forthcoming papers will provide more details on key aspects of Iraq
Read More
A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History By Alissa Walter, M.A. Washington, DC Thesis Advisor: Judith Tucker, Ph.D. ABSTRACT How did 50 years of oil wealth, non-democratic rule, wars, and sanctions shape sta
Read More
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 More
Sunday 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 More
A 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 More