U.S. leverage in the region could be higher without a troop presence in Iraq.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/26/us-iraq-iran-military-militia-attacks-sudani/
The U.S. hit more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria—but not Iran itself.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/02/us-strikes-iraq-syria-iran-biden-response/
Two experts explain the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthi rebels, and other militant groups operating in the region.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/02/biden-iran-jordan-drone-attack-hezbollah-hamas-houthi/
The Jordan attack may pull Washington into an unwanted conflict.
The assault on Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba is the third high-profile attack in the Middle East this week.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/04/iraq-us-airstrike-pmf-iran-explosion-baghdad-hezbollah-israel/
Mohammed al-Halbousi’s ruthless consolidation of power alienated both Sunnis and Shiites.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/21/halbousi-iraq-anbar-sunni-shiite-parliament-corruption/
As Israel advances in Gaza, the intensity of the response by Tehran’s so-called axis of resistance will increase.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/10/iran-proxy-militias-syria-israel-hamas-war-irgc-escalation/
The Florida governor has touted his military experience on the campaign trail. But what did he really learn at war?
While Washington sits idly by, the region is on the brink of falling into Tehran’s orbit.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/29/iraq-iran-kurdistan-krg-puk-pmf-kdp/
Legislation authorizing the 2003 war is still on the books—and alarmingly open-ended.
Today, there are more terror groups in existence, in more countries around the world, and with more territory under their control than ever before.
A diplomatic deadlock over a 50-year-old pipeline agreement is wreaking havoc in the region—and beyond.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/25/turkey-iraq-krg-oil-pipeline-ceyhan-export-erdogan-embargo/
Climate change endangers the Tigris and Euphrates—but it’s not the only reason the rivers are vanishing.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/25/iraq-kurdistan-climate-change-rivers-tigris-euphrates/
Stockholm’s expansive freedom of speech laws are complicating its relations with the Islamic world.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/20/sweden-quran-burning-embassy-baghdad-protests-sadr/
The system of government set up after 2003 has run its course.
The ideal vision for Iraq post-2003 did not materialize as foreseen, but this should not be the sole prism through which we judge the country now.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/30/iraq-war-anniversary-democracy-tishreen-movement/
In the 1980s, it had one of the most advanced economies in the Arab world.
What did the war cost, and how do we go about calculating the cost in the first place?
https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/ones-and-tooze/why-iraq-economy-never-recovered-us-invasion/
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/22/iraq-kurdistan-region-democracy-war-invasion-united-states/
The war’s legacy is 20 years of broken hopes and dreams. This government must do better.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/17/iraq-war-anniversary-legacy/
Twenty years on, the war still shapes policy—mostly for the worse.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/17/iraq-war-anniversary-lessons-bush-biden-afghanistan/
Accepting U.S. failures doesn't mean giving dictators a free hand.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/23/iraq-antiamericanism-ukraine/
Mohammed al-Sudani’s public support of U.S. troops reflects a behind-the-scenes shift—and the continued threat from the Islamic State.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/24/iraq-new-prime-minister-sudani-us-troops/
The increasingly violent rivalry between Moqtada al-Sadr and Iran will decide Iraq’s future.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/09/15/iraq-sadr-iran-shiite-civil-war/
An ominous escalation has catapulted the country even deeper into turmoil.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/08/30/iraq-politics-moqtada-al-sadr-protest-election/