politics

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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Last weekend’s visit by Mohammad Javad Zarif, who chose Baghdad for his first trip outside Iran as foreign minister, sends a clear signal to the United States: Iraq is in the Iranian camp. This is the message that Iraq is sending at a time when the United States is seeking support for military action...
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The influx of refugees into Iraqi Kurdistan is not because they are afraid or to seek a better life. It is because they feel abandoned and insecure in their land. Their leaders are not with them, the international community does not want to know anything about them, Turkey is not helping and Kurdistan Region...
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Over the last few days, Iraq’s Islamists and secularists have been attacking and accusing each other in newspaper articles and Facebook posts, most of it centered on the closing of cafes in Baghdad by the city’s staunchly Shiite governor. Secularists have likened the closures to attacks by Al-Qaeda, while the Islamists have applauded the...
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Last month, at a media training session for a number of Syrian local council press officers, I asked each of the participants to name the favorite television channels on their satellite receivers. The unanimous answer was, Al Jazeera. This reminded me of my early days of training journalists in Baghdad in late 2003. Back...
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Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani’s visit to Baghdad, shortly after the political saga over the two-year extension of his presidency, carries a different symbolism from the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Erbil. The message of Maliki’s visit was to show that Erbil matters to Baghdad. But the only message one can...
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