Since the Ba'ath Party's government ended in 2003, the Kurdish parties have seldom ever been weaker in comparison to Baghdad
No single party has emerged as
the clear winner
of Iraq's parliamentary elections, creating an unstable political environment. No coalition was able to secure the required fifty seats. Negotiators tasked with forming the government under the Shiite Coordination Framework will therefore likely face a wide ...
Key Factors Influencing the Future of Kurdistan's Oil Deal
Following a two-and-a-half-year pause, Iraqi federal authorities and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are marking an
agreement
to resume oil exports via Turkey. An obvious prerequisite to addressing
long-standing disagreements
over civil servant salaries in the semi-autonomous region ...
Turkey's New Strategy in the Region: Oil, Security and International Routes
The agreement that Turkey signed with Iraq on August 17, 1973, to ship Iraqi (Kurdish) Kirkuk oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean for export was terminated by a decree
issued
by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 20, 2025. Several conditions led to the decision ...
The disputes between Baghdad and Erbil now affect the essence of the Iraqi state itself and are no longer merely a Kurdish issue
The strained relationship between Baghdad and Erbil is at the center of the ongoing conflicts in the Iraqi political landscape. In 2005, when the Kurds voluntarily took part in the creation ...
Challenges and Prospects of Disbandment
The
disbandment
of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on May 12 raised questions about
Turkey's military position
in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region going forward. Analysts
questioned
if PKK members in Iraq's mountainous north will
follow
their central leadership's decision to disband the group. The PKK's
demobilization
in Iraq and the potential
changes
in Ankara, Baghdad,...
The creation of a Shiite southern region is a powerful negotiating tool in the “Greater Middle East” mapping movements, as well as internal, regional, and even international political processes
Discussions on federalism in Iraq have long been entwined with
political rivalry and conflicting interests
. Federal regions have proposed reforms, as well as ways to exert political pressure to consider incorporating federalism in certain regions. In light of recent events—particularly ...
...
Post-conflict nation-building is a complex process that requires re-establishing the economy, government, and social institutions alongside managing security issues. As two of the most famous instances of post-conflict reconstruction, Afghanistan and Iraq offer valuable lessons regarding the success and failure of global interventions. While the two countries are different from one another, they both come with foreign intervention and domestic battle that makes them strategic examples of studying ...
On November 19–23, 2024, the Middle East Peace and Security (MEPS) Forum was held in Dahuk, Iraq
On November 19–23, 2024, the Middle East Peace and Security (MEPS) Forum was held in Dahuk, Iraq. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the main security and development challenges in the Middle East region in the context of global trends.
Within ...
... organizing high-level meetings with the Gulf states, while not forgetting the Arab Mashriq, countries that also have a role to play in implementing some of the Chinese initiatives and that have recently attracted more Chinese investment.
A new future of Iraqi oil
Nikolay Surkov:
De-Escalation for the Gulf—Success and Challenge for China
Of greatest interest in this context are relations with Iraq as China’s third-largest trading
partner
among the Arab nations and one of the key oil
exporters
to ...
On March 3–5, 2024, the international forum “RCD Forum 2024. Future of Mankind: Crises and Transformations” was held in Baghdad, Iraq
On March 3–5, 2024, the international forum “RCD Forum 2024. Future of Mankind: Crises and Transformations” was held in Baghdad, Iraq. The event was organized by Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue (RCD), Baghdad-based think-tank. The goal of ...
