Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Iyad Al-Dulaimi
-
Iraq and the options for its political crisis
It does not seem that either of the sides in the Iraqi crisis, the Sadrist Movement or the Coordination Framework, have the desire to put an end to the political impasse in the country, due to both sides sticking to the mechanism they believe is better to form a...
-
PKK terrorism in Iraq is no less a threat than Daesh terrorism
Governments sometimes resort to terrorism to achieve short-term goals. This is no secret. Even the leader of the “war against terror”, the United States, is not averse to using terrorism when it suits Washington to do so, either directly or indirectly through proxies. Such proxies do not believe in dialogue,...
-
Iraq and Biden’s 2006 plan to introduce federalism
The Americans have elected a new resident for the White House, a Democrat to turn the page on four miserable years of “Trumpism”. President-elect Joe Biden will be asked to make many changes, not least to improve the image of his country around the world. Iraq did not feature in...
-
Kadhimi is dancing with snakes without a flute
At the end of his European tour, during which he visited France, Germany and Britain — he is a British citizen, remember — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said, “I dance on a daily basis with the snakes but I am looking for a flute to control them.” According...
-
Iraq: the people should reject sectarianism once and for all
Following public protests last October, the people of Iraq unified in an almost unprecedented manner. Baghdad witnessed the largest demonstrations condemning the country’s political system, ruling forces and parties, which prompted the authorities to resort to killing, intimidation and arrests to stop crowds of protesters surrounding the Green Zone....
-
Will Iraq be the next to jump on the normalisation bandwagon?
It seems that the normalisation bandwagon that took off recently from Abu Dhabi is not far from passing through Baghdad. Despite the bleak picture in Iraq, and the regional and international conflicts that control many aspects of its own situation, a careful reading of the details can lead us...
-
Iraq and wandering maps
The Middle East region appears to be in a liquid state, similar, to a large extent, to its situation after the First World War, with signs that the Ottoman Empire is collapsing, and the division of the region and its distribution among the victorious countries, specifically Britain and France....
-
Iraq has a historical opportunity for progress which its Prime Minister must take
It does not look as if Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi wants a direct confrontation with the factions which make up the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and are loyal to Iran. He is well aware that he cannot bear losing such a confrontation. That perhaps explains why just a...
-
Iraq, the US and the difficult dialogue
The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, which was formed only a few weeks ago — and was only completed on Saturday after voting on the seven remaining ministerial portfolios that were vacant — finds itself facing a challenge different to the economic, political and health adversities that...
-
A Trump war on Iran or its proxies could swing the election for him
Despite the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald Trump succeeded in distracting the world on one occasion and imposing his own news agenda when he ordered American sailors to destroy any Iranian vessel approaching their ships. His tweet to this effect appeared to be in response...
-
Qatar is besieging, not besieged
It has been two years since the four countries, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, imposed their siege on Qatar. Two years later, the besieged came out stronger and more powerful, while the besiegers remained trapped even deeper in a quagmire they thought they had set as a...
-
Iraq’s stability is a necessity for Iran
For years we heard nothing but news of death, murder, destruction, and bombings from Iraq. Since the US occupation in 2003, Iraq has become the most violent and turbulent country in the world, becoming a compass of violence in the Middle East. I would not be exaggerating if I...
-
A strike to strengthen Assad
After heated tweets and large deployments with his Western allies, the American President, Donald Trump, along with Britain and France attacked targets and sites associated with Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. This was the long-awaited response to Al-Assad’s attack on Douma with chemical weapons, killing more than 70, including women and...
-
Iran and the American containment
In 2001, before the September 11th attacks, a committee specialising in studying the details of the Middle Eastern countries, presented a number of recommendations (or decisions) to the American President, George W Bush. These recommendations included changing Iraq by military means and changing Iran from within. In 2015, when...
-
Saudi Arabia in Iraq… What has changed?
The visit by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, to Saudi Arabia in the midst of the Gulf crisis resulting in a four-country siege on Qatar, and nearly two months after the Riyadh-Islamic-American summit, has raised a number of questions regarding the nature of this visit. This...
-
What's next for post-Daesh Iraq?
It doesn’t seem that the situation in Iraq after Daesh is going to be any better than what it has been like since the militant group took control of half of the country in 2014. Data indicates that differences between rivals who have been united by Daesh are too...