Op-eds

Two Meetings, one crisis & no leaders

November 12, 2013
Two Meetings, one crisis & no leaders

Two very short meetings took place in Kurdistan: One was the PUK plenum and the other a gathering of the newly-elected Kurdish parliament. Both had many similarities, but a key difference. The PUK meeting that lasted for under an hour was the result of a defeat in the election and the ongoing crisis in...
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Erbil is Erbil, Baghdad is Baghdad

October 25, 2013
Erbil is Erbil, Baghdad is Baghdad

Although the horse-trading has already started among the Kurdistan Region’s various political parties, the politics will officially begin with the end of the legal process over the results of last month’s parliamentary elections. The process will start with the naming of the candidate for prime minister. Formation of the next government will be the...
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When Hassan Meets Hussein!

October 8, 2013
When Hassan Meets Hussein!

Iraq’s Kurds and Arabs both have lessons to learn from the current rapprochement taking place between Iran and the United States: Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani’s reach to the United States was measured, which President Barack Hussein Obama’s response was desperate. The process demonstrates that, while Washington makes foreign policy as it goes along, Tehran’s...
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An Early Warning Attack!

October 1, 2013
An Early Warning Attack!

Sunday’s attack against the Asayish building in Erbil was not a normal terrorist operation. It serves as a reminder of the threats against the Kurdistan Region and its establishments. The operation carries many clues to the nature of the threat, and a simple reading shows that the attack has two aspects, one internal and...
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Kurdistan’s Infant Experience Has Learned to Walk

September 24, 2013
Kurdistan’s Infant Experience Has Learned to Walk

On Saturday the people of Iraqi Kurdistan elevated the politics of their autonomous region into a mature process. They proved that they are no longer the predictable electorate that the political parties of Iraqi Kurdistan can rely on to maintain the status quo. But the following days and years will decide how far this...
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Kurdistan Elections: Free but not Fair!

September 18, 2013
Kurdistan Elections: Free but not Fair!

The autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq could see an important political turning point after Saturday’s elections for the regional legislature — but not necessarily a democratic one. Before the international community and in the region Kurds and Kurdish leaders are especially proud – and quick to brag – that elections in the Kurdistan...
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