Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1 to 10 of about 33
In Iraq’s Eastern Basra region, regional conflicts and illicit activity have contributed to environmental decay, which in turn furthers instability. Unless these problems are addressed, there will be long-term consequences for Iraq and the Middle East.
The Iraqi-Syrian border continues to be geopolitically restless. Kurdish parties have taken advantage of central government weaknesses to increase their autonomy in these areas.
The Iraqi-Syrian border near Qaim and Bukamal has become a magnet for conflict, as Iraqi and Syrian state actors compete with Iranian-backed nonstate militias for influence and power.
The United States, Russia, and Iran have chosen markedly different approaches to security assistance in the Middle East, with dramatic implications for statebuilding and stability.
Shia and Sunni endowments have gone different ways since Saddam Hussein's fall, and the Iraqi state is poised to take advantage where it can.
The ethnic and sectarian power-sharing systems in Lebanon and Iraq are in crisis.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) remains divisive, poorly understood, and plagued by internal divisions, as it is both recognized by the state and at the behest of nonstate leadership figures. Key challenges involving the PMF will shape Iraq’s political and security future.
The Islamic State’s ideology is multifaceted and cannot be traced to one individual, movement, or period. Understanding it is crucial to defeating the group.
The Arab states in transition are confronted with a seemingly intractable task: rebuilding state institutions and social contracts in an era of global change. Conventional approaches to security sector reform that fail to grasp the dilemmas and challenges complicating this effort are certain to fail.
Iraq’s Sunni Arabs face a crisis of representation underlined by intra- and inter-community contestations. Understanding their predicament is the first step to reengagement.