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Latest Articles about Iraq
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Hot Issue: Iraqi Kurdistan’s New Security Challenges
Executive Summary The recent advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and collapse of a quarter the Iraqi Army has created both opportunities and threats for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). With Baghdad occupied by the crisis, the KRG has been able... MORE
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Iraqi Shi’a Militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq Expands Operations to Syria
A suicide bombing struck an election rally in Baghdad that was being held by the Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi’a militia group and political party Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH - League of the Righteous) on April 26, killing 37 people (al-Jazeera, April 25; for AAH, see Terrorism... MORE
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Is Egypt Russia’s Next Major Middle Eastern Arms Customer?
Today, Russia is being associated almost exclusively with the crisis it has generated in Ukraine. But that is a myopic and excessively complacent view. Indeed, Russia is carrying on a global foreign policy directed at exploiting the United States’ retreats, mistakes or vacuums created by... MORE
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A Portrait of Omar al-Shishani: The Northern Commander in Syria of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Omar al-Shishani, the commander of Jaish al-Muhajireen wa’l-Ansar, is regarded as the best known rebel leader in the country. Omar (a.k.a. Tarkhan Batirashvili) was born in 1986 to a Christian and a Muslim mother. He hails from Birkiani, a poor village located in the Pankisi... MORE
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New Details on the Life of Iraq’s Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
An anonymous user posted a short biography of Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) Amir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on the jihadi forum Ansar al-Mujahideen on July 21, 2013. [1] An extended version of the biography appeared on another jihadi website one month later, this... MORE
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China’s Iraq Oil Strategy Comes Into Sharper Focus
March 19 marked the ten-year anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. Although the international community continues to focus on the violence plaguing post-war Iraq and the country’s oil production capacity, changes in Iraqi foreign policy in... MORE
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Succession Scenarios after Talabani: The Irreplaceable PUK Leader
Jalal Talabani, president of Iraq and leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK—Yeketî Nistîmanî Kurdistan), was admitted to a hospital in Baghdad on December 17, 2012 after he reportedly suffered a stroke. The PUK is one of the ruling parties of the autonomous Kurdistan region... MORE
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Murder in Paris: Parsing the Murder of Female PKK Leader Sakine Cansiz
Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez, three female members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Parti Karkerani Kurdistan – PKK) were murdered in Paris on the night of January 9 (The Kurdistan Tribune, January 10). The three victims held varying levels of seniority. Sakine Cansiz... MORE
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The Payment of Kickbacks—A Norm in Russia’s Arms Trade
A month ago, during a state visit to Moscow by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Russian government officially announced that an “arms trade package” worth $4.2 billion was agreed. The “package deal” reportedly included the purchase of 30 Mi-28N attack helicopters and 42 Pantsir-S1... MORE
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A Ba’athist Veteran in Exile: A Profile of Salah al-Mokhtar
Introduction After the Anglo-American invasion that toppled the regime of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party, thousands of junior and senior members of the party fled the country. From their exile in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and elsewhere, some... MORE