Iraq

On June 3, 2011, Michael Knights, Lachlyn Soper, Andrew Lembke, and Barak Salmoni addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Dr. Knights is a Lafer fellow with the Institute and author of The Iraqi Security Forces: Local Context and U.S. Assistance. Ms. Soper is a social scientist for the

On April 29, 2011, Ahmed Ali, Michael Knights, and Michael Eisenstadt addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Ali is a Marcia Robbins-Wilf research associate at the Institute, focusing on Iraqi political dynamics. Dr. Knights is a Lafer fellow at the Institute, specializing in the military and security

Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iran has tried to establish itself as the key external power broker in Iraq by exploiting ties with key parties, arming and training militias, and exerting economic, religious, and informational influence. Although these efforts have yielded mixed results thus far, the

Iraq is evincing growing confidence and ambition to use its political experience as a regional model for countries emerging from dictatorships.

Though recent Iraqi protests have not pushed for the removal of the central government, they nonetheless illustrate a number of widespread attitudes that inform Iraqis' alienation from their authorities.

On November 30, 2010, Daniel Serwer and Mithal al-Alusi addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. Mr. Serwer, a visiting scholar, senior fellow, and professorial lecturer at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, previously led U.S. Institute of Peace teams working on rule of law

For thirty years, Iran has sponsored Iraqi paramilitary proxies, demonstrating the Islamic Republic's ability to commission violence within Iraq. In this new article, Washington Institute Lafer fellow Michael Knights discusses the genesis of Iran's current support for "Special Groups" of militant Shia diehards, emphasizing their destabilizing effect on Iraq and

"Today, Iraq is to Iran as Lebanon was to Syria," intoned an Iraqi politician during a recent off-the-record briefing in Washington. The sentiment is commonly expressed by Iraqis, the US's Arab allies and by many American diplomats and soldiers: that the United States removed Iran's most inveterate opponent -- Saddam

In recent weeks, a number of deadly terrorist attacks in Iraq have highlighted the fact that even after seven years of counterinsurgency and stability operations, the United States still faces major challenges in realizing its long-term goal of establishing an Iraq that is, in the words of President Barack Obama