Iraq
A Decade Ago, Kurdish Forces Had Reached an Unprecedented High Point
If the State Vets Fighters Without Dismantling Their Networks, the Militia Eventually Will Capture the Institution from Within
What Began as Domestic Payroll Corruption Has Become a Parallel Financial System to Expand Iran’s Proxy Networks Abroad
Pledges to Bring Weapons Under State Control Prove Unenforceable Because of Militias’ Political and Coercive Power
Tehran’s Cyber Strategy Partially Relies on Externalized Digital Logistics Bases
The Houthis Utilize Areas Controlled by Kata’ib Hezbollah and Other Militias for Logistical Routes and Launch Zones
Compensating Victims of Iranian Attacks Would Demonstrate Washington’s Commitment to Its Regional Partners
The Brotherhood Has Returned Through Two Political Alliances—a Religious Institution Managing Mosques and a Missionary Network
Iranian Influence in Iraq Operates Through Overlapping Security, Political, and Militia Networks That Reinforce One Another
Because Iraq’s Political System Cannot Police Itself, Washington Should Focus on State Officials Who Enable Sanctioned Networks
The Agreement Makes Clear That Turkey Cannot Disregard the Authority of Iraq When Dealing with the Ceyhan Pipeline
President Trump Should Not Treat a New Iraqi Prime Minister as Proof That Iraq’s Balance of Power Has Changed
Iraq’s Dominant Factions Are Using Anti‑Corruption Mechanisms to Neutralize Political Rivals
Iran’s Influence Is No Longer Operating Merely Alongside the Iraqi State, but Increasingly Through It
His Government Emerged from the Same Forces That Have Run Iraq for Two Decades, Under the Supervision of Iran’s Qods Force
Iran-Backed Armed Groups Long Have Used Religious Narratives to Recast Coercion as Duty, Sacrifice, and Defense of Religion
If Washington Misinterprets Al-Sadr, It May Lend Support to Political Arrangements That Reinforce Militia-Linked Governance
This Is Not the Ceding of Iran’s ‘Deep State’ Within the Iraqi System, but Rather Its Adjustment and Consolidation
The Kurdistan Region No Longer Can Treat National Security Policy as Ad Hoc and Personality Driven
An Envoy Could Provide Washington with Facts on the Ground to Calibrate Policy to Reality