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Iraq

Policy Analysis on Iraq

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In-Depth Reports

Autumn of Decisions:

A Critical Moment for American Engagement in the Middle East

The 2007 Weinberg Founders Conference explored a number of critical issues, with an eye toward the overall direction of U.S. Middle East policy as the Bush administration enters its final year in office. In keynote plenary sessions and breakout seminars, and over coffee in the hallways, a select group of

America and the Middle East, circa 2008:

Presidential Legacy, Electoral Politics, and Foreign Policy

The new year 2008 is sure to be eventful in both America and the Middle East. As President George W. Bush travels across the region promoting the Annapolis peace process and building on military progress in Iraq, candidates to succeed him debate who has the claim on greater "experience" in

Articles & Testimony

Mesopotamian Muddle

Rarely have we faced more daunting problems in the Middle east and seemed farther away from resolving or even defusing them. There is surely no more important foreign-policy priority than finding ways to ameliorate the challenges and conflicts that confront us in the region. This won't be done with slogans

Dennis Ross

Implications of a Growing Threat

On November 5, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and deputy chief of military staff Gen. Ergin Saygun visited President Bush in Washington to discuss the growing threat posed by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The composition of the Turkish delegation was symbolically important and demonstrates a new political stability

Soner Cagaptay

Articles & Testimony

If there is one thing that Iraq does not need, it is additional sources of conflict and instability. Right now, the only part of Iraq that is stable and shows prospects o developing economically and politically is the Kurdish areas of the north. Though no without challenges, especially given the

Dennis Ross

Articles & Testimony

Everybody's Kurdish Problem

On November 5, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet US President George W. Bush to discuss likely action against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The recent spike in terror attacks on Turkey by the PKK from northern Iraq and subsequent Turkish shelling have heightened expectations that Turkey could

Major PKK Positions in Northern Iraq: West (JPG)

A map of PKK positions in the western portion of northern Iraq. Copyright 2007 The Washington Institute

Major PKK Positions in Northern Iraq: East (JPG)

A map of PKK positions in the eastern portion of northern Iraq. Copyright 2007 The Washington Institute

Articles & Testimony

Stagecraft, Not Statecraft:

Diagnosing Bush's Failure in Iraq

From "Mission Accomplished" to his September trip to Anbar province, President Bush has excelled at stagecraft when it comes to Iraq. Pulling rabbits out of hats and waving scarves like a diplomatic David Copperfield, he has staged events and shaped imagery to build support for his strategies, while undercutting his

Dennis Ross

In-Depth Reports

America's Future Direction in Iraq

On October 21, 2007, J.D. Crouch and Antony Blinken addressed The Washington Institute's Weinberg Founders Conference. Mr. Crouch formerly served as assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor. Mr. Blinken is a majority staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and senior foreign policy advisor to the

The Petraeus-Crocker Report:

A series of congressional hearings and media interviews by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker this week offered insights into the U.S. strategy in Iraq, and several yardsticks by which future progress there may be evaluated. Encouraging Numbers In his testimony to Congress, General Petraeus stated that "the military

Michael Eisenstadt

Articles & Testimony

Tribal Engagement Lessons Learned

Engagement activities -- overt interactions between coalition military and foreign civilian personnel for the purpose of obtaining information, influencing behavior, or building an indigenous base of support for coalition objectives -- have played a central role in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). They have involved efforts to reach out to village

Leaving Basra City:

Britain's Withdrawal from Iraq

On September 3, 550 British troops evacuated one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces in Basra via the Shatt al-Arab waterway, retreating to Basra airport, the last British base in Iraq. Britain remains responsible for security in the city and for the major supply route from Kuwait, fifty miles to the

Simon Henderson

Articles & Testimony

President Bush's commitment to staying the course in Iraq remains as strong as ever. In his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last week, he invoked the ideological struggles of the past to explain why we must prevail in the current conflict. While many have questioned his analogies to

Dennis Ross

Iraqi Kurds and the Turkish-Iraqi Memorandum against the PKK

On August 7, Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Ankara against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Although the PKK, based in northern Iraq, is on the U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, lack of action

Soner Cagaptay

In-Depth Reports

Training the Iraqi Air Force:

Lessons from a U.S. C-130 Advisory Mission

Among the many initiatives for training the Iraqi military, one little-publicized but crucial effort has been the U.S. Air Force's ongoing series of comprehensive advisory missions. Central Command's latest plan to develop Iraqi airpower calls for dramatic increases in the number of Iraqi Air Force personnel and aircraft, as well

Michael Bauer

In-Depth Reports

With Neighbors Like These:

Iraq and the Arab States on Its Borders

From high-level diplomatic tours to multilateral summits in Baghdad and Sharm al-Sheikh, Washington has devoted increasing attention to Iraq's Arab neighbors. Yet, although speculation about the role of regional states in stabilizing Iraq has become something of a cottage industry in Washington, much of this analysis has focused on non-Arab

The PKK, PJAK, and Iran:

Implications for U.S.-Turkish Relations

On June 8, a day after reports that Turkish troops had crossed into northern Iraq to pursue members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Iranian aircraft bombed the camps of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), also in northern Iraq. PJAK, which operates in the mountains of northern

Soner Cagaptay

Turkish Troops in Northern Iraq?

Yesterday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that thousands of Turkish troops had crossed into northern Iraq to pursue members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an organization on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Later, the AP corrected this, reporting that only a few hundred Turkish troops were

Soner Cagaptay

Building on a Vacuum:

Ways Forward after the U.S.-Iranian Meeting

The May 28 meeting between the U.S. and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq was mostly notable for its length -- four hours -- and the lack of anything to show for all that time together. And the very next day, Iran announced that three detained Iranian Americans visiting their homeland, including

David Pollock

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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 was the Nathan and Esther K. Wagner Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute.

Elizabeth Dent - source: The Washington Institute

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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