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Tony Blair's Last Scandal - Johann Hari, The Independent

There is no question there was a plot....

Turkey Means Business in Kurdistan - Justin Vela, Asia Times

The heavy presence of Turkish business in Kurdish northern Iraq has a special twist....

Iraq: The Impasse - Joost Hiltermann, New York Review of Books

It is easy to underestimate how much fear can obstruct a society’s recovery from horrific violence or repression, or both; and fear now dominates Iraq as its leaders try to m...

In Kosovo, Lessons in Nation-Building - Peter Baker, New York Times

Virtually forgotten is the last such American project overseas, still incomplete but reaching a critical juncture this week....

Iran Wins a Round in Iraq - Mohamad Bazzi, NY Daily News

Moqtada al-Sadr's rise could stoke sectarian tensions and help Tehran....

Sadr's Chance for a New Beginning - The National

Just a few years ago, in the darkest days of the Iraq war, the Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr led one of the most destabilising forces in the country. The Mahdi Army was in open c...

Obama's Soft Power Fallacy - Abe Greenwald, Commentary Magazine

In May, Barack Obama delivered the commencement address to West Point’s 2010 graduating class and offered high praise for the accomplishments of the American military&mdash...

Understanding Iraqi Perceptions of the U.S. - CSIS

Americans tend to see US troop levels in Iraq as being shaped by a US-domestic political debate. Polling by ABC News and other groups, however, tells another side of the story. ...

Rivals Unite to Stop Maliki - Phil Sands, The National

Such a deal could seriously undermine Mr al Maliki....

Two Wars and America's Hour of Truth - Ullrich Fichtner, Der Spiegel

Barack Obama is caught in a Catch-22 situation: If America's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq fail, they will overshadow any of his domestic achievements. The end game in the leadershi...

Petraeus' Risky Militia Move - Los Angeles Times

Handing out guns in Afghanistan has been risky business through the ages, yet arming Afghan village defense forces is central to Army Gen. David H. Petraeus' strategy against the...

Inside Iraq's Real Power Struggle - Sami Moubayed, Asia Times

The Shi'ite politicians who formed the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) to fight parliamentary elections had one objective in mind: keeping secular ...

Balkans Show We're Bad at Nation Building - G. Bardos, National Interest

To understand the limits of what can be achieved militarily and politically in Iraq and Afghanistan, a good starting point is looking at what we have done in Bosnia and Kosovo ov...

Turkey's Other War - M. Abramowitz & H. Barkey, Carnegie Endowment

While Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was extolling his activist Middle East diplomacy and winning the adulation of the Arab street; antagonizing Arab governments, fail...

Is U.S. Playing Big Enough Role in Iraq? - Jackson Diehl, Washington Post

Retaining U.S. influence, and preventing Iraq's destabilization, may require a stepped-up effort by Washington in the next few weeks....

U.S. Bids Iraq Goodbye and Good Luck - Gwynne Dyer, Japan Times

As the American withdrawal gains speed, there are fewer American troops in Iraq than in Afghanistan for the first time since 2003....

Will Iran Be the Third Front? - Arnaud de Borchgrave, Washington Times

Strikes on Iran becoming more likely....

How the Balkan Genocide Led to Iraq - Jordan Michael Smith, Newsweek

What seemed relatively painless there - stopping a dictator and forging a peace - was an order of a different magnitude in Iraq....

Neoconservatism Under the Microscope - Justin Vogt, The National

The National logo, global utilities-->31 °C FAQ Bookmark this page Sign In Register ...

U.S. Has No Leverage Over Iraq (That's Good) - James Traub, Foreign Policy

Remember Iraq? That war we used to have? Most of us have moved on to the savage melodrama of Afghanistan -- but not U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who just returned from his fourt...

Turkey's 'Zero Conflict' Myth - Shlomo Avineri, Japan Times

Turkey now finds itself, through its alliance with Iran and support for Hamas, rushing headlong into a series of conflicts....

Al Qaeda May Return to Iraq - Omar Ashour, Daily Star

While recent US air strikes that killed top commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan mean further losses for Al-Qaeda, the current political conditions in Iraq may favor the organiza...

Iraq's Existence in Danger - Michael Jansen, Jordan Times

The Fourth of July visit to Baghdad by US Vice President Joe Biden demonstrated all too clearly that Iraqi politicians have declared their independence from Washington. For a sec...

Asia a Growing Player in the Mideast - Geoffrey Kemp, Foreign Policy

The United States has become accustomed to its hegemonic military presence in the greater Middle East. The U.S.-led international coalition against Iraq after its invasion of Kuw...

Iraq's 24/7 Bombings - James Denselow, The Guardian

In the week of Britain's 7/7 commemorations we should spare a thought for Iraqis living with the daily threat of terrorist attacks....

Welcome to the Post-Unipolar World - Leon Hadar, Huffington Post

International relations have ceased to be a zero-sum-game....

Obama's Harmful Iraq Deadline - Khairallah Khairallah, The National

The Americans entered Iraq without a clear-cut plan, at least on the political level. They thought that it would suddenly become a peaceful nation, which would embrace a democrat...

Biden's Urgent Iraq Message - Christian Science Monitor

Vice President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Iraq over the Fourth of July weekend, urging political leaders there to finally form a government – four months after nati...

Send McChrystal to Iraq - Christopher Hitchens, Slate

Gen. Stanley McChrystal should oversee the U.S. drawdown from Iraq....

Mexican Lessons for Afghan Nation Building - Nikolas Gvosdev, WPR

Invariably, when Americans engage in nation-building exercises around the world, it is hoped that the indigenous leaders that emerge will be cast in the mold of our Founding Fath...

The Political Battle in Iraq - Brookings Institution

Iraqi politics are dead-locked. The results of the March 7 elections were a resounding victory for Iraq, and for America’s interests in Iraq in that Iraqis largely vo...

Divvying Up Iraq's Political Spoils - Anthony Shadid, NY Times

Where Iraq ends up has implications for the fate of its increasingly unpopular political order....

Obama's Parade of Foreign Policy Failures - David Frum, National Post

Can you name one major foreign policy initiative of the Obama administration that is not mired in horrible failure?...

The Western Way of War - Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post

US General Stanley McChrystal has paid a huge price for his decision to give Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings free access to himself and his staff. But he performed a great ...

A Double Down Bet on Petraeus - David Ignatius, Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- Gen. David Petraeus didn't sign on as the new Afghanistan commander because he expects to lose. That's the boldest aspect of President Obama's decision: He has put a ...

How General Petraeus Will Change the War - C.M. Sennott, Global Post

President Obama's decision to call upon General David Petraeus to take the helm as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan looks like a political and strategic stroke of brilliance. ...

Sadr as Kingmaker of Iraqi Politics - Mohamad Bazzi, The National

Three months after it was elected, Iraq’s new parliament convened on June 14 for a mere 18 minutes. Two men sat smiling in the front row: the prime minister Nouri al Maliki...

Middle Powers Challenge American Power - Dilip Hiro, Daily Star

Long, unfinished wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – coupled with the global recession triggered by the excesses of Wall Street – are widely seen as symptoms of the ...

Why Iran Will Keep Shelling Iraq - Ranj Alaaldin, The Guardian

Cross-border incursions allow neighbouring states to hamper Iraq's economic progress without resorting to full-scale war....

Iraq Is Defenseless - Cato Institute

It's obvious to everyone that post-Saddam Iraq has an array of internal weaknesses. Hatred between Sunnis and Shiites exploded into near civil war in 2006 - 2007, and animosity bet...

March of Folly in Afghanistan - Maharajakrishna Rasgotra, The Hindu

The United States is in the process of committing a historical blunder with grave consequences for not only Afghanistan but also the regions surrounding it. President Barack Obam...

Washington Has No Post-Cold War Plan - Alan Philps, The National

How Washington policy makers must yearn for the simple certainties of the days when the world was divided into West and East and countries generally stayed in their assigned boxe...

How Iraq Can Fortify its Democracy - Ayad Allawi, Washington Post

Some elements in and outside Iraq are still attempting to undermine our fragile democracy....

Internalizing the Clash of Civilizations - World Public Opinion

Over the last six years I have been conducting a major study of public opinion in the Muslim world. This study included conducting focus groups in six majority Muslim countries a...

What Threats Does America Face? - Heritage Foundation

While Americans focus on the significant challenges at home, they must also not forget the growing national security challenges that our nation faces abroad. The world remains a da...

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