Barrack's Iraq portfolio: What it reveals about US Middle East policy

Barrack’s appointment has one important advantage for Iraqis: he is not just any envoy. He is an extraordinarily powerful diplomat, in direct personal contact with the President of the United States and other senior figures in Washington. In other words, he can get things done in Washington in a way no other envoy or ambassador to Iraq has.

Why a US-Iran deal will not end Mideast instability

As the US and Iran near the signing of a preliminary ceasefire extension, prospects of a truly durable peace between the two countries remain unlikely.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Zaidi begins his tenure with little margin for error

As Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi takes office, a mountain of challenges lay on his table, including deepening political rivalries and domestic and geopolitical trends. These issues constitute structural challenges that he will need to grapple with and overcome with tact and foresight.

Iraq’s Zaidi has the wind at his back, but it could turn stormy

On April 27, the Coordination Framework, the ruling Shiite bloc in Iraq, put forward Ali al-Zaidi as its nominee for the position of prime minister. Yet this convergence masks a far more precarious reality. Zaidi’s path to success is shaky, and failure is more likely than not—particularly if a new round of conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran resumes.

How the latest Iran war played out in our village

Forty years after Chornobyl: A lingering explosion

On the 40th anniversary of the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, The same Russian playbook of lies that was tried out in 1986 on Ukrainian schoolchildren at the May Day parade is today, in 2026, being tried out on young Iraqis, Ukrainian Ambassador to Iraq Ivan Dovhanych writes.

Why the US should not support a Sudani second term

As Iraq's Shiite Coordination Framework seemingly edges away from Nouri al-Maliki and to incumbent PM Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for a second term, the US must consider major issues during his premiership before supporting his continued tenure.

Kurds paying a heavy price in a war fueled by leaks

The Kurdistan Region suffered heavily during the US-Israeli war with Iran, both through the human toll of Iranian strikes and the risks engendered by leaks, irresponsible journalism, and the propagation of misleading information that put Kurdish lives in danger.

Audacity without architecture: The Iran war and why Kurdistan chose differently

As the Middle East grapples with the spillover effects of the US-Israeli war with Iran, this piece explores the paucity of strategic logic underpinning the offensive and why Kurdish leaders were rightfully hesitant at throwing their weight behind it.

Iran-aligned armed groups’ dangerous game in Iraq

The ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran has exposed the failure of Iraq’s security sector reforms, with risks growing that Iran-aligned armed factions in Iraq could draw the country into turmoil and further chaos.