Foreign influence is certainly one of the most serious challenges facing Iraq since 2003. While the issue is extensively discussed in the media and analyzed by think tanks, the prevailing theme of the discussion is how foreign influence in Iraq manifests itself.Continue reading “FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN IRAQ: REFRAMING THE DISCUSSION”
HOW TO AVOID THE QUICK SANDS OF ANALYZING IRAQ’S ELECTIONS
Without a doubt, the 2018 Iraqi elections are going to be the trickiest thus far in Iraq’s nascent democracy. The outcomes will strongly shape the post-ISIS era, which represents a critical juncture in Iraq’s history. Continue reading “HOW TO AVOID THE QUICK SANDS OF ANALYZING IRAQ’S ELECTIONS”
2018: THE CHALLENGES AHEAD
2017 was one of the most significant years in Iraq’s modern history. The significance is not only because of the victory against ISIS, preventing the division of the country, nor the complete removal of the UN sanctions against Iraq. It is more than all that put together. Continue reading “2018: THE CHALLENGES AHEAD”
— George Bernard Shaw
“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
RATIONALIZING THE DEBATE OVER THE PMF’S FUTURE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
The Iraqi armed forces achieved one of the greatest military victories in recent history, and many Iraqis sacrificed their lives to defeat ISIS, one of the biggest threats to world peace. Nevertheless, the unjust media campaigns against the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and more specifically the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which, ironically, are often spearheaded by Iraq’s supposed allies, never stopped. Continue reading “RATIONALIZING THE DEBATE OVER THE PMF’S FUTURE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE”
CRITICIZING THE CRITICS: TOWARDS SOME ‘APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY’ IN IRAQ
The vast amount of criticism about Iraq, whether it is meant well or ill-minded, has created a rather toxic and unproductive environment in which everything is viewed in a negative light.Continue reading “CRITICIZING THE CRITICS: TOWARDS SOME ‘APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY’ IN IRAQ”
CRITICIZING THE CRITICS: ON THE OBSESSIVE NEGATIVITY TOWARDS IRAQ
One of the things Iraqis were deprived of during Saddam’s reign was their ability to criticize. While people around the world cannot and probably never will be able to imagine how it was under Saddam, Iraqis remember well what it meant to criticize the leader, the party, or the state.Continue reading “CRITICIZING THE CRITICS: ON THE OBSESSIVE NEGATIVITY TOWARDS IRAQ”
— Chinese proverb
“What is told in the ear of a man is often heard 100 miles away”
THE KURDISH POLITICAL NARRATIVE AFTER THE REFERENDUM | PART III
On October 29, 2017 the Kurdish parliament convened to discuss Masoud Barzani’s letter formally announcing that he will no longer seek an extension of his overdue presidency after November 1, 2017. Analyzing the content of his letter and speech along with the events that accompanied his resignation presents another showcase of how the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) deals with the current developments in the region, and some unmistakable indicators of how it will do so in the future.
Continue reading “THE KURDISH POLITICAL NARRATIVE AFTER THE REFERENDUM | PART III”
THE KURDISH POLITICAL NARRATIVE AFTER THE REFERENDUM | PART II
In the morning of October 15, 2017 the world watched how Iraq’s federal forces took back Kirkuk in a swift and coordinated way, continuing their advances with limited resistance to retake most of the areas outside the official borders of Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) taken control by the Peshmerga in previous years.
Continue reading “THE KURDISH POLITICAL NARRATIVE AFTER THE REFERENDUM | PART II”
MUHAMMAD ALWAELI 