Biden’s mideast strategy and its geopolitical implications
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
We must not grow numb to the Yazidi Genocide
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
Trump must never listen to the warmonger Bolton
Trump must not engage the United States in another war in the Middle East. We have and continue to pay dearly for the Iraq and... Read More
The Islamic State after the Islamic State
The war against IS will not be won militarily. The world has only has to look at the American military’s “surge” in Iraq of 2006-2007... Read More
Nadia Murad – a Yazidi voice against slavery
While it is dangerous to fall into a good/evil analysis of world politics, there is little to see of “good” in the ISIS actions. Thus,... Read More
Recasting the Levant
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
Kurdish cooperation and renewal – is there a way forward?
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
The myth of the “clean war”
Trump’s worldview promises low-cost military success. The blasting apart of civilian lives in Iraq says otherwise.
Self-determination is an inalienable right
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
What was the Islamic State? Will it be back?
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
Don’t believe anything you read about Kirkuk
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
The Iraqi Kurdistan vote – a look back on the long struggle for Kurdish independence
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 survival game – post-referendum politics in Iraqi Kurdistan
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.
The Iraqi Kurds’ independence is decades overdue
The US and EU must be in the forefront in supporting Iraqi Kurds to achieve independence, and bring an end to the historic travesty that... Read More
Ending Iraq’s humanitarian crisis
It is time to end the Iraqi tragedy. Much of the healing and prospects for a better and more promising future is in the hands... Read More
Iraq – where there are no solutions then where should we look?
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
Battle for Mosul – can there be respect for the laws of war?
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
“People far from the fire don’t feel the heat” – an update from Iraqi Kurdistan
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
How do we defeat Islamo-Nihilism?
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
Defeating ISIS and ending Sunni-Shiite war in Iraq
Now that the conditions on the ground have changed and ISIS is on the retreat, President Obama can help with the full support of its... Read More
An open letter to Donald Trump from Iraq
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
An Iraqi Sunni state is prerequisite to defeating ISIS
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
Mistakes were made – part II
The US is now in the process of choosing its next president. Everyone – in America and beyond – should insist that all the candidates... Read More
The inevitable conflict – empowerment of terrorism through appeasement
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
Conflict and intervention – the role of multilateralism
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
