Policy Analysis

Political conflicts, sectarian disputes, and clashing interests between regional and international actors have heightened Iraq’s instability in recent years. An interview with KDP advisor Kifah Mahmoud teases out these challenges and the KRG’s response.

There are economic, corruption, and governance factors at play in the migration of Kurds to Europe, but the most acute issue is the collapse of trust in the political future of the Kurdish Region.

If the Biden administration is serious about addressing human rights violations, it should push for a more democratic, free, and just government in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Statistics show that both the Damascus government and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria are failing to effectively combat COVID-19 in Deir al-Zour.

Violence against women and other social issues in the KRI require multifaceted, international solutions, and the United States stands to benefit from supporting these solutions.

The United States' approach to intra-Kurdish dialogue requires a profound understanding of regional history and dynamics, without which it risks further complications and difficulties in Syria.

Iraqi Kurdistan's Komal party faces a difficult dilemma as it seeks a more reformist direction.

The talks, which resumed in April in secret sessions, have made progress toward an agreement. But many are concerned that delays and unreasonable demands have turned the talks into theater among regional parties vying for power.

A village of women in Eastern Syria are upholding the core political beliefs of the Kurdish minority there.

There are several steps the Biden administration can take to strengthen its allies in Syria and promote a peaceful solution.

Good relations with Iraqi Kurdistan are a valuable strategic asset for the United States, but support from the Biden administration should not be unconditional.

Kurds in Turkey and Iran could be valuable partners as the United States navigates difficult relations with both countries.

Facing Turkish, Iranian, and Islamist threats, Kurds in Iraq and Syria are hoping for more U.S. support than they saw under the Trump administration.

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, and thereby Iran, have gained increased influence in Kurdish areas around Kirkuk.

Conflict over Iraq's Sinjar district has left Yazidis adrift in the complexities of Kurdish politics.

Optimism on Biden in Iraqi Kurdistan is driven by historical ties. But contemporary political views on U.S. policy in the region may shape the Biden presidency in new, less comfortable ways.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, I had travelled to northeastern Syria twice in twelve months. On my most recent trip in Manbij, I found myself walking wide-eyed into a hardware store like any I would have frequented at home in the United States. Various electrical conduits and fittings for outlet boxes

Kurds in Syria’s northeastern region face an uncertain and threatening future, especially now that most American forces have withdrawn from the country. A sporadically belligerent Russian military presence, coupled with Turkish aggression against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, has produced an increasingly precarious situation for Kurds in the area. Even Kurdish civilians

Upon each of my past arrivals in Syria, I’ve entered into landscapes of rolling hillocks and oil wells. Stippled across the land, some wells toiled slowly while others—rusted and abandoned—lay motionless, languishing along the buckled pavement of northeastern roads leading toward the city of Qamishlo. Reminiscent of the Texas Panhandle

Over the last four years, Kurds in Iran have watched Kurdish communities in Syria and Iraq continue to suffer losses at the hands of hostile forces, disoriented by the turbulent shifts in Washington’s decision-making. It once seemed that the United States would support change in Iran beneficial to the country’s