Iraqi officials reported on Thursday that the Kurdistan Regional Government had begun pumping oil from two oil fields near the city of Kirkuk. The city itself, which has long been a site of contention between the Baghdad government and the KRG, fell under Kurdish control after Iraqi Army units withdrew last month. Since then, the […]
Iraq beefs up air force as Korea eyes global jet market
South Korea’s Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) made news recently with its biggest deal ever, a $1.1 billion sale of FA-50 light attack jets to the Iraqi air force. Under the deal, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) will deliver 24 FA-50 jets to the Iraqi Air Force between 2015 and 2016. The FA-50 is a light attack […]
Crocker: Keep Syrian conflict contained and in context
Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who has served in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, says that the current war between Bashar al-Assad’s regime and an array of opposition factions should be understood in the context of a three-decade-long regional conflict, rather than that of the “Arab Spring.” He also argues that the call for America to “do something” […]
Challenges and considerable opportunities for investment in Iraq
For the Middle East Institute, Sujata Ashwarya Cheema takes a comprehensive look at the opportunities available for foreign investors in Iraq (highlights: favorable tax regime, high demand in many sectors), as well as the substantial challenges that impede investment (continued and unpredictable violence, an incomplete legal infrastructure, regional disputes over resources). This piece presents a […]
Violence in Iraq: prelude to dissolution, or re-birth pains?
Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy looks at the violence threatening Iraq’s tenuous integrity, dismissing claims that the conflict can be reduced to “sectarian hatred” or spillover from Syria’s civil war. But the real driver of violence in Iraq is arguably Baghdad’s over-centralization of power, which came too soon and was […]