Middle Orient

After once threatening to sit out the elections, the Sadrist movement has embarked on a media and political campaign to increase election turnout. Muqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoon political bloc pledged on Sept. 30, to implement its program for state administration within three years if it wins the post of prime minister …

Talks on the sale of Turkish armed drones and combat helicopters to Iraq have hit snags amid Iraqi efforts to extract concessions on contentious issues in bilateral ties. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been eager to boost military sales to foreign buyers, but his foreign policy often snags his …

During an interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian National Coalition President Salem al-Meslet discussed recent US sanctions on Ahrar al-Sharqiya, the human rights situation in northern Syria and the US military presence in the war-torn country. The head of the exiled Syrian opposition acknowledges human rights violations committed by Turkish-backed fighters in …

Turkey appears to be maneuvering to expand an Islamic state in Syria and Iraq. The same Turkish government that claims to counter “terrorism” through its fight against the Kurdish PKK has supported ISIS in the region for years. “The ability of ISIS to become a functioning state so quickly is …

A leading Syrian Kurdish politician said on Thursday the United States will stay on in Syria to destroy Islamic State, build infrastructure and remain a player in the search for a political settlement after more than 10 years of civil war. The Kurds, who live in the mountainous region straddling …

What can help allay perceptions of marginalization and tension in the district? Iraq is a country beset by a host of political, security, economic and social challenges, including addressing the human legacy of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) rampage through the country just a few years ago. Almost four years after …

Despite new electoral system and process, elections may deliver far more modest outcomes than the people demand and need. On October 10, Iraq will hold national parliamentary elections, the fifth national elections since Iraq adopted its 2005 constitution. And despite waning expectations about what these elections might accomplish, they remain …

There is an unmistakable shift in American politics regarding Palestine and Israel, a change that is inspired by the way in which many Americans, especially the youth, view the Palestinian struggle and the Israeli occupation. While this shift is yet to translate into tangibly diminishing Israel’s stronghold over the US …

Iraqi parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 10, 2021. The elections were moved forward from May 2022, following a popular protest that erupted in 2019, which led to the resignation of the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi. In these elections, for the first time, a “rights movement” party will run for …

Where the US goes, much of the Western world follows – willingly or reluctantly, depending on circumstances. From the first days of his presidency Joe Biden started implying that the Middle East did not feature among his top concerns. As a consequence the region has been sinking down the policy …