The Biden administration’s new Middle East strategy is forcing regional powers to reassess their geostrategic interests and act in a manner that might end several... Read More
The international community cannot grow numb to genocide, as this will continue to haunt us only with greater force. The Yazidis have paid the ultimate... Read More
The approach in the Levant should be to hold and manage territory using international military force, deterring further escalations, for the indefinite future until informal... Read More
The Paris meeting ended with a call for a “national dialogue to begin at the earliest time” which is certainly necessary. However, a dialogue within... Read More
Self-determination is not a gift to be awarded by the graces of any governing authority; it is an inherent right that every ethnic, religious, and... Read More
If and when a renewed Islamic State appears, the international community might do well to manage its emergence more carefully than for the first Islamic... Read More
The unopposed invasion of Kirkuk by troops ostensibly loyal to Baghdad of uncertain provenance and without anything other than token Peshmerga resistance to occupation of... Read More
Turkey, Iran and Syria all fear that moves for an independent Kurdish state in Iraq will lead to demands within their state for greater Kurdish... Read More
The regional hostile post-referendum moves may seem to leave the Kurds with little reason for optimism, but in Kurdistan, resistance never comes as a surprise.
If the international community does not act in tandem, through the medium of its vehicle of consensus, the United Nations, then there exists a very... Read More
To prevent and alleviate human suffering, to protect life and health, and to ensure respect for the human person – these are the core values... Read More
TransConflict is pleased to present a letter written by Cathy Breen who is currently part of a peacemaking team in Iraqi Kurdistan with Muslim Peacemaker Teams,... Read More
To fully rescue Islam from the nihilistic violence of today will mean championing an Islam that is radical in its embrace of the excluded other,... Read More
TransConflict is pleased to present an open letter by Sami Rasouli – founder of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, a member of the Global Coalition for Conflict... Read More
The Obama administration, with its coalition partners, must now develop a strategy to defeat ISIS, which will be extremely difficult unless Iraqi Sunnis join the... Read More
There is a need to unravel the many intertwined factors that affects governments’ decisions to negotiate or not with terrorist groups as part of their negotiating strategy... Read More
There are five good reasons for the major powers – especially the US – to commit themselves to consensus decisions on multilateral intervention achieved through... Read More
Broken states never heal themselves and can only be put back together with the prolonged involvement of outsiders working together to end the violence, impose... Read More
Berlin and Brussels should be spearheading efforts to pull together a diplomatic approach – to accompany US/Russian military actions – to gaining some level of... Read More
Syria and Iraq are home to some of the world’s first cities, a complex and unique meeting of states, empires, and faiths. Leadership must come... Read More
A future independent Kurdish state faces many political, economic, and administrative challenges, but its success could be a game-changer in the Middle East.
In the context of the bitter struggle in Iraq and beyond, it seems important at the present moment to share ideas about decentralized development and... Read More
One of the main prerequisites to defeating ISIS in Iraq is to determine the political future of Sunni Iraqis. The Obama administration must therefore begin, concurrently... Read More
The demise of Yugoslavia has several important lessons for other divided contexts. First, if you want to maintain the stability of internally divided states, it... Read More
Western governments must develop a long-term deradicalization strategy to stem the flow of Muslim volunteers with the objective of substantially reducing the threat they pose... Read More
Given the continuing widespread death and destruction sweeping the Middle East, however, the Arab states have little choice but to develop a long-term comprehensive strategy... Read More
Snared by geopolitical interests, post-9/11 interventions have too easily been captured by leading states. A robust law enforcement process must serve enforcers of law, not... Read More
Sexualised and gender-based violence in Iraq, highlighted in recent weeks in relation to ISIS atrocities, has been at the heart of sectarian and authoritarian politics... Read More
Even if the Islamic State’s current modus operandi revolts us, the political logic to its existence remains firm. The West and the regional powers alike... Read More
Leaving aside financial support from more fundamentalist elements within the various Gulf states, three factors have assisted the fast-paced recruitment of such a large army;... Read More
If Islamic State cannot be defeated militarily, and if “degrading” it remains a distant and uncertain outcome, then everyone may have to accept that the... Read More
In the absence of a viable solution the crimes committed by ISIS, it is arguable that intervention is the only available route. However, the first step to... Read More
The essential fact of the sectarian conflicts (internal and external) that have characterized the MidEast for decades has been the artificial boundaries left behind by... Read More
While approaches to “genocide” differ and the claimants voices are many, the historic legacy of genocide must be a starting point. One could conclude that... Read More
The struggles by ethnic and religious groups left behind by empire cannot be resolved by outsiders. These competing groups need to find their own way... Read More
Armed conflicts like the one currently consuming Iraq, plus the actions of Boko Haram in Nigeria, continue to show that women and girls are among the most... Read More
There are three easy paths any rational politician could advocate that will decrease hostilities, prevent the emergence of new terrorism recruiting environments and empower local... Read More
Whatever government structure is finally developed for an ethnically segregated Iraq it should not be as dysfunctional as the Dayton constitution proved to be for... Read More
The decision by Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to pursue rapprochement with the president of Iraqi Kurdistan could prove a profound obstacle to the Kurdish... Read More
As NATO prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, and the engagement in Iraq passes 10 years, government leaders must take on board the lessons learned from... Read More
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