Iraq

US-Iran tensions are set to widen Iraq’s sectarian divide

Galip Dalay

Monday, January 13, 2020

A man holds a picture of late Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, as people celebrate in the street after Iran launched missiles at U.S.-led forces in Iraq, in Tehran, Iran January 8, 2020. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY

Order from Chaos

How the Iran-Iraq war shaped the trajectories of figures like Qassem Soleimani

Bruce Riedel

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attend a meeting in Damascus, Syria January 7, 2020. Picture taken January 7, 2020. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Order from Chaos

The only winner of the US-Iran showdown is Russia

Strobe Talbott and Maggie Tennis

Thursday, January 9, 2020

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks following the U.S. Military airstrike against Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iraq, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., January 3, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo

Order from Chaos

How Donald Trump thinks about Iran

Thomas Wright

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Reports

Iraq

Pitfalls of the paramilitary paradigm: The Iraqi state, geopolitics, and Al-Hashd al-Shaabi

Vanda Felbab-Brown

June 2019

REFILE - CORRECTING PUNCTUATION Displaced Iraqi residents carry biscuits and bottles of water as they walk past other residents waiting for the food distribution of an aid organization during the first day of Eid al-Fitr celebration in West Mosul, Iraq June 25, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC19775F43A0

Report

Do social protection programs improve life satisfaction?

Talajeh Livani and Carol Graham

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

A member of the Iraqi security forces stands guard as Ameen Mukdad, a violinist from Mosul who lived under ISIS's rule for two and a half years where they destroyed his musical instruments, performs at Nabi Yunus shrine in eastern Mosul, Iraq, April 19, 2017. REUTERS/ Muhammad Hamed - RC167F7F0AE0

Report

Sectarianism, governance, and Iraq’s future

Ranj Alaaldin

Monday, November 26, 2018

Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces members guard near the building belonging to a Popular Mobilization Forces in Basra, Iraq September 8, 2018. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani

Report

Containment and engagement: The rise of armed non-state actors

Ranj Alaaldin

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Iraqi forces are seen after they captured Rawa town, the last remaining town under Islamic State control, Iraq November 17, 2017.

Report

Fragility and resilience in Iraq

Ranj Alaaldin

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Blog Posts

An Iranian guard holds a Hezbollah flag during a funeral procession and burial for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, at his hometown in Kerman, Iran January 7, 2020. Mehdi Bolourian/Fars News Agency/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY

Order from Chaos

What the killing of Qassem Soleimani could mean

Ali Fathollah-Nejad

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani pray near the coffins of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020. Official Khamenei website/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Order from Chaos

Trump’s reckless Middle East policy has brought the US to the brink of war

Daniel L. Byman

Monday, January 6, 2020

Protesters demonstrate outside the US Embassy in Nine Elms, London, after the US killed the head of Tehran's elite Quds Force and Iran's top general, General Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike at Baghdad's international airport.

Order from Chaos

Iran knows how to bide its time. Don’t expect immediate retaliation for Soleimani.

Suzanne Maloney

Monday, January 6, 2020

View All Blog Posts

Events

2019

Nov

Past Event

Protests rock Iraq: What next?

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM AST

The counter-ISIS coalition: Diplomacy and security in action

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EDT

The impact of militias on governance and geopolitics in the Middle East and North Africa

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT

Washington, DC

View All Events

Related Books

Road Warriors: Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad

By Daniel L. Byman

2019

Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979–1988

By Bruce Riedel

2012

The Lingering Conflict

By Itamar Rabinovich

2011

View All Books

Experts

Steven Heydemann

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy

SHeydemann

View All Experts

Multimedia

A demonstrator holds the picture of Qassem Soleimani during a protest against the assassination of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who were killed in an air strike in Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 3, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Podcast Episode

How will Iran respond to US assassination of Soleimani?

Suzanne Maloney and Adrianna Pita

Friday, January 3, 2020

Iraq

What’s driving anti-government protests in Iraq?

Vanda Felbab-Brown and Adrianna Pita

Monday, October 7, 2019

Photo from the event: "The limits of punishment: Transitional justice and violent extremism"

Order from Chaos

Terrorists next door? Experts discuss how to respond when communities are overtaken by terrorist groups

Bradley S. Porter

Thursday, October 25, 2018

View All Multimedia