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Iraq

Policy Analysis on Iraq

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Brief Analysis
Changing of the Guard: New Iraqi Militia Trends and Responses
In the year since their most iconic leaders were killed, Iran-backed militias in Iraq have been changing in crucial ways, providing rich insights into how Baghdad and its international partners should approach them in 2021.
Jan 19, 2021
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  • Michael Knights
  • Hamdi Malik
  • Crispin Smith
Brief Analysis
The U.S. Designation of Kataib Hezbollah’s Abu Fadak
The latest sanctions against a senior leader in the Iranian-backed terrorist militia are a reminder that such figures cannot slip onto the political spectrum merely by changing their job title.
Jan 13, 2021
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  • Michael Knights
Brief Analysis
New Iranian Bill Aims to Officialize a Policy of Avenging Soleimani and Destroying Israel
In addition to prohibiting any negotiations over Iran’s military power or regional ambitions, the legislation would oblige the government to work toward evicting the United States from the Middle East and destroying Israel within twenty years.
Jan 12, 2021
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  • Farzin Nadimi
Brief Analysis
Leveraging U.S. Sanctions on Faleh al-Fayyad
The Biden administration should embrace the new sanctions against the civilian head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a decision that is supported by strong evidence of human rights abuses and can help hold other violators accountable.
Jan 8, 2021
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  • Michael Knights
Brief Analysis
Enough Theory, European Strategic Autonomy Needs Practice in the Middle East
Libya, Iraq, and the Strait of Hormuz provide three test cases where greater assertiveness and transatlantic cooperation could go hand in hand, but only if European countries receive genuine U.S. support to step up their operational efforts and diplomatic engagement.
Jan 6, 2021
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  • Pierre Morcos
Articles & Testimony
Why an Iran Attack Could Be Biden’s “Hour One” Crisis
Tehran and its proxies may wait until after inauguration to take any action, potentially leaving Biden to decide how to balance the safety of American personnel with the chance for reengagement.
Jan 2, 2021
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  • Michael Knights
Iranian rockets and flag
Brief Analysis
A Missile Defense “Manhattan Project” in the Middle East
One of the fruits of Arab-Israeli normalization should be more robust U.S.-led missile defense collaboration between states that face the greatest threat from Iran.
Dec 30, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
Articles & Testimony
My Beloved Brothers in God, This Is an Invitation: The Islamic State’s Dawa and Mosques Administration
An in-depth study on how the group's outreach and proselytization activities evolved before, during, and after its jihadist state-building project in Iraq and Syria.
December 2020
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  • Aaron Y. Zelin
Brief Analysis
Reform, Not Violence, Will Ease Iraqi Kurdish Protests
In addition to publicly condemning the violent repression of demonstrations, Washington should urge its Kurdish allies to stop stalling on economic reforms at home and budget negotiations with Baghdad.
Dec 10, 2020
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  • Bilal Wahab
Articles & Testimony
The U.S. Should Take a Strategic View Towards Iraq
The country need not be a top foreign policy priority, but the Biden administration would be wise to invest in Iraqi security, unity, and democracy amid competition with Russia, China, and Iran.
Dec 8, 2020
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
Brief Analysis
Iran Vies for More Influence in Iraq at a Budget Price
Tehran aims to earn hard currency for its relatively cheap military hardware, ideally boosting its leverage in Baghdad at a fraction of the cost that the United States has been spending there.
Dec 3, 2020
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  • Farzin Nadimi
Brief Analysis
Shock Therapy Will Kill, Not Cure, Iraqi Kurdistan’s Economy
Spending cuts are necessary and overdue in the Kurdistan Region, but international players need to ameliorate the impact of politicized provisions in the new funding deficit law.
Nov 13, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
Articles & Testimony
Back into the Shadows? The Future of Kata'ib Hezbollah and Iran's Other Proxies in Iraq
History may be repeating itself as Tehran develops new, smaller, and more secure Iraqi cells reminiscent of the formation of KH itself.
Oct 23, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
Brief Analysis
Keeping Down a Diminished Islamic State:
The Prospect of an October Surprise Attack
The relatively low risk underscores the importance of Washington’s continued pressure to curtail the jihadist group’s strike capability outside its areas of operation.
Oct 20, 2020
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  • Ido Levy
In-Depth Reports
Prospects for Syrian Kurdish Unity: Assessing Local and Regional Dynamics
In October 2019, the U.S. troop withdrawal and subsequent Turkish invasion of northern Syria upended Kurdish plans in the region. But a year later, the major Syrian Kurdish rivals—the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish National Council (KNC)—are coming together after a lengthy estrangement. This past June, representatives from the
Oct 19, 2020
◆
  • Sirwan Kajjo
Brief Analysis
Washington Confuses Tactics with Strategy: The Perils of Shuttering the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
In threatening the closure, the U.S. administration is undermining the reform-minded Iraqi prime minister’s efforts against Iran-backed militias and risking Baghdad’s relationship with Washington.
Oct 9, 2020
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  • Dana Stroul
  • Bilal Wahab
  • Barbara A. Leaf
Brief Analysis
Pushing Back on Iraqi Militias: Weighing U.S. Options
Although halting the escalation of militia attacks on American personnel is crucial, simply evacuating the Baghdad embassy and downscaling the bilateral relationship would allow Iran to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Sep 25, 2020
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  • Michael Knights
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking
Brief Analysis
Khamenei Uses Iraq War Anniversary to Reinforce Iranian Steadfastness
Rather than explicitly addressing Washington’s reactivation of sanctions, the Supreme Leader sought to convince domestic listeners that Iran can ‘resist’ external pressures and the latest COVID-19 wave on its own.
Sep 22, 2020
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  • Omer Carmi
Brief Analysis
Kadhimi’s Rolling Reshuffle (Part 2): Protecting Iraq’s Economic Institutions and Borders
As technocrats increasingly fill key government roles, U.S. officials need to help Baghdad withstand the inevitable counterpunch from political and militia factions used to dictating such appointments.
Sep 15, 2020
◆
  • Michael Knights
Brief Analysis
Kadhimi’s Rolling Reshuffle (Part 1): Military Command Changes
To strengthen Iraq’s capacity for resisting militia and foreign influence, Washington should keep supporting the campaign to remake the military one commander at a time.
Sep 14, 2020
◆
  • Michael Knights
  • Alex Almeida

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Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics

The Washington Institute's Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics focuses on social, political, and economic developments in the Arab world, with an emphasis on the Arab countries of the Levant.

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Featured experts

Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program.
Michael Knights
Michael Knights
Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and cofounder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to Iran-backed militias.
Bilal Wahab
Bilal Wahab
Bilal Wahab was the Nathan and Esther K. Wagner Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute.
Elizabeth Dent - source: The Washington Institute
Elizabeth Dent
Elizabeth Dent is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she focuses on U.S. foreign and defense policy toward the Gulf states, Iraq, and Syria.
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