Iraq
Iraq’s ‘Other’ Minorities Still Endangered
The need for direct support in order for Yazidis and Assyrians to survive has never been greater, yet the prospect has never seemed more remote.
New War Beneath the Ground
More than four years on, the Islamic State group has been forced from Mosul and no longer occupies towns or cities anywhere in Iraq or Syria. But its brutal legacy remains, under mounds of rubble, in ruined homes and fields.
The Exodus of Iranian Kurds
For many Iranian Kurds, passing over the mountains into Iraq’s Kurdistan Region means crossing into an uncertain future. Poverty, neglect and a shaky legal status weigh heavily. Although some have been in Iraq for decades, reticence from some lawmakers in Baghdad means there is little chance of them obtaining Iraqi citizenship and some measure of security.
On the Kurdish Front Lines, It’s an Endless Struggle
The Islamic State may have been defeated in the field, but they have not been defeated in Iraq. What actually happened was that their fighters retreated from Mosul and Hawija, before slowly melting back into the Sunni Arab villages — and storing their weapons in the nearby caves — and prepared for war once again. What lies across from me are the most fanatical and hardcore: Those who have hung on, who refuse to surrender or flee. And they will stay there until they win or die.
Why Are Iraqi Kurds Fleeing to Europe?
Just as in the rest of Iraq and the wider region, the Kurdish model has failed to resolve deep social, political and economic issues by mere nationalistic thinking and slogans. The ongoing mass Kurdish exodus to Europe through Belarus is a clear example of this failure.
The Secret Life of an Iraqi Town That Actually Fought – and Won Against – the Islamic State
The tribal leaders of Haditha saw the writing on the wall: An attack by the Islamic State was imminent. But unlike other cities, Haditha would not capitulate, the leaders decided. They would instead fight, come what may.
Where Iraq and Syria Meet, Unrest Follows
Why do Sunni jihadists of the Islamic State, Iran-backed Shiite militants, and Kurdish militants of PKK and allied groups still find in the Iraq-Syria border a space to operate and consolidate their positions vis-à-vis their rivals? The answer lies in the disintegration of the apparatuses of the central state.