In mid-September, the Iraqi government announced that it had reached an agreement with the United States to withdraw most US troops from Iraq over the next two years. About two weeks later, at the end of the United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 27, US and Iraqi officials characterized the agreement as a transition
Despite its rich tradition as a cradle of learning dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, and a leading educational system in the Middle East by the mid-twentieth century, Iraq’s educational landscape has faced significant challenges. The 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf War, and subsequent international sanctions severely damaged educational infrastructure and funding, leading to a
Watch the event Public Event Fri, April 19, 2024 • 2:30 pm ET Iraq’s prime minister on building a stronger relationship with the United States AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT—Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani, the prime minister of Iraq, discusses his state visit to the United States. Economy & Business Energy & Environment Middle East Politics & Diplomacy “I
Prepare for round two. On Sunday, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said that US strikes over the weekend in Iraq and Syria were “just the first round” in response to the January 28 killing of three US servicemembers in a drone attack in Jordan. He spoke after B-1 bombers and other US forces
On January 15, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for missile attacks into Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, that killed four and may have wounded as many as seventeen. The attacks largely hit civilian areas, killing a well-known Kurdish real estate developer and four members of his family. According
More than two weeks after Hamas’s brutal October 7 attack, Israel continues to mass troops at the border with Gaza in preparation for a seemingly imminent ground invasion of the enclave. Meanwhile, escalating clashes between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese border, as well as rising violence in the West Bank have
Here we go again. On March 23, Iran-backed Iraqi militias launched a drone attack that killed an American contractor and wounded another, as well as twenty-four US military personnel. The attack feels very much like a repeat of the one in December 2019, which also killed a US contractor and led to an escalatory cycle,