The public sector in Iraq accounts for the majority of employment in the oil-rich country. Plummeting oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in economic crisis and an ever increasing budget deficit. Where there is crisis however, there is opportunity: will 2021 bring a much needed reform of the public sector in Iraq? When the Iraq anti-government protests erupted
Read MoreThe Arab National Movement is mourning the death of one of its bellwethers, Dr Khair El-Din Haseeb, founder of the Centre for Arab Unity Studies. Arab nationalists and thinkers throughout the Arab world have lost an eminent and irreplaceable character, Dr Khair El-Din Haseeb, who passed away on 12 March 2021. Dr Haseeb was at the heart of the region’s important intellectual
Read MoreTo the editors of the ‘Iraqi Economists Network’ (IEN) At the outset, my thanks go to the editors of the IEN and also to the World Bank’s ‘Country Economic Memorandum Team’ (WB-Team) for their interest in my article posted at the IEN website in early March (http://iraqieconomists.net/en/2021/03/08/world-banks-assessment-is-flawed-manufacturing-is-viable-in-iraq-pre
Read MoreThe United States and Iraq must work together to bring about better opportunities and economic prosperity for the Iraqi people to help secure a stable, democratic and growing Iraq. Given its resources, people, history, and resilient democratic governance, Iraq has the elements and the potential to deliver a bright future for its citizens and ultimately through sustained economi
Read MoreWith the approach of Iraq’s next parliamentary elections in October 2021, pro-reform candidates are facing troubling obstacles as they prepare to compete against the country’s establishment parties, which include armed militias that have dominated Iraq’s parliament since 2018. To ensure a fair electoral playing field, reformers are asking the international community to quickly
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