June 01, 2015
Still Winning in Iraq
Two months ago, my colleague and I published a Foreign Affairs piece warning about the political challenges that lay ahead in Iraq’s Sunni heartland, where the government and its security forces, with U.S. and international support, were seeking to rout the self-proclaimed Islamic State (also known as ISIS). We made three main points.
First, the Iraqi government could not simply conduct a repeat play of the Sunni Awakening, particularly because the Sons of Iraq and other Sunni leaders who had joined with the U.S. military to fight al Qaeda in the 2006–07 period have since lost their local credibility.
Read the full article in Foreign Affairs.
More from CNAS
-
Iraq’s persistent fault line: The dangers of escalating tensions in Kirkuk
While Kirkuk remains contested, risks of destabilisation will continue to hang over Iraq and the Sudani government....
By Hamzeh Hadad
-
Washington’s Security Strategy in Iraq Was Deep-frozen. This Week Might Bring an Overdue Thaw.
It will require immense political will and courage to reform an Iraqi defense establishment that continues to perpetually hollow itself through corruption, indifference, and o...
By Jonathan Lord
-
A golden opportunity: How Iraq can benefit from regional calm
Leaders are concerned with the economic wellbeing of their citizens in a transforming, and less oil reliant, world....
By Hamzeh Hadad
-
Jonathan Lord on the DoD and Kurdish Air Support
Jonathan Lord joins AL-Hadath to explain some of the challenges facing United States Department of Defense in providing air defense systems to the Kurdistan Regional Governmen...
By Jonathan Lord