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Kurdistan

The Kurdish Quest for Independence

On September 25, Iraqi Kurdistan is set to hold a referendum on independence. There are plenty of strong voices around the globe in support of the [...] More

Middle EastSecurity/StabilityReporting

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An Ancient Strategic Riddle

The systemic and historical structure of Turkish-Iranian competition over Kurdish geography is one of the oldest geostrategic riddles of the Middle [...] More

Middle EastSecurity/StabilityReporting
Kurdistan as a Geopolitical Playground

Kurdistan as a Geopolitical Playground

The region often referred to as Kurdistan, split between four areas in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, has long played a role as a conflicted buffer [...] More

Middle EastSecurity/StabilityReporting

The Forgotten Dimension of the Syrian Conflict

The complex proxy war in Syria has demonstrated both the reach and limitations of Iran’s strategic influence. By mobilizing a wide range of [...] More

Middle EastSecurity/StabilityReporting
The Push for Kurdish Independence

The Push for Kurdish Independence

As Kurdish forces battle the Islamic State (ISIS) on the frontlines in Iraq and Syria and the government in Baghdad struggles to preserve a cohesive [...] More

Middle EastSecurity/StabilityReporting

The Right to Determine Our Future

In an exclusive interview with The Cipher Brief, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdistan Regional Government Representative to the United States, [...] More

Middle EastSecurity/StabilityReporting

When, Not If?

For much of the past century, the Kurds have rebelled against their respective rulers only to be brutally crushed each time. The 21st century is [...] More

Middle EastSecurity/StabilityReporting
The Future of the Middle East

The Future of the Middle East

The chaos we’re seeing today throughout the Mideast continues to escalate and shows no signs of subsiding. The United States and the West seem [...] More

Middle EastReporting

The End of the Beginning

A couple years ago, when the Middle East was in turmoil but considerably less complicated than today, I was at a small gathering of foreign policy [...] More

Middle EastReporting

The Great Unraveling

In the past five years, the Middle East has suffered from a double collapse. First, having proven unable to provide capable political institutions or [...] More

Middle EastReporting

No Signs of Improvement

In Iraq, the fight to rid the country of the Islamic State (referred to colloquially in Arabic as Daesh) is taking longer than officials and analysts [...] More

Middle EastReporting

Can Baghdad Step Up?

Victory in Ramadi City against ISIS by the Iraqi Army, despite ISIS holdouts, has given a shot in the arm to the Iraqi government and to Iraqi Prime [...] More

Middle EastReporting
The Future of Kurdistan

The Future of Kurdistan

Kurdistan is a transnational patchwork quilt of territories spread across Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. Though only six million out of a total of 32 [...] More

Middle EastReporting