IraqInContext

As part of a series of articles on the Kurdish referendum crisis, we invited Joel Wing to discuss the aftermath of the vote. Joel has been writing the blog Musings on Iraq since 2008.

Readers familiar with Musings on Iraq will know it as an invaluable resource: Joel ha...

The days surrounding the Kurdish independence referendum have been filled with feverish commentary, speculation and in some cases, mis-information about the situation on the ground. Subsequent events in Kirkuk and the disputed territories caught many commentators off-g...

The liberation of Mosul represents a watershed moment; it is the greatest military victory that the Iraqi military has enjoyed since 2003 and one of its greatest victories since its foundation in 1921 during the period of the monarchy.  Iraq’s military can now proudly...

Writing in Haaretz recently, David Rosenberg recently noted that an independent Kurdistan would resemble Zimbabwe, rather than Dubai-- the central African nation of Rhodesia was ruled by a minority which unilaterally declared independence in 1967, and rapidly plummet...

One of the differences between states and non-state actors is a sense of permanence. Germany and Japan were completely defeated after World War II, yet today these states are important players in the international order.  Even after the Syrian civil war and the fall of...

Many of us who follow events in Iraq closely have been particularly vocal in praising the victory of the Iraqi government in Mosul. Militarily, it was an impressive rebound for the Iraqi army after the disasters of 2014, and where possible, it was achieved with maximum...

It has passed some observers by that Iraq is rigorously pursuing a multilateral foreign policy, based on building bridges in the region. It is worth considering that this may even be a historic first in the modern Middle East potentially charting a path to a new Arab u...