Since the fall of Mosul it has sometimes been said by Iraq’s detractors that there is no longer any such thing as the Iraqi security forces (ISF). This is clearly nonsense and those peddling this line are fully aware that it is nonsense. They are motivated by schadenfreude –...
Water draws special interest in research because it is the essence of life. Attention has grown in this subject, perhaps in anxiety about the future of water in our present time due to increased competition for its demand; whether within one country or between countries that share it. Studying...
The Baath regime, which ruled Iraq through 1968-2003, wasn’t one that was known to have embraced Islam as an ideology or take it as an important source for its values. The regime has most often been described as a secular one of a singular directive approach to establish a...
In countries that have experienced civil wars or transition from authoritarian rule, national reconciliation has been considered a strategic aim to overcome past phases and a starting point towards the construction process.
Every state has its own experience with national reconciliation; however, such experiences do not undermine the importance of...
On December 3, 2015, a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) regiment of 150 troops and 25 tanks deployed to the Iraqi town of Bashiqa, north of Mosul with the mission to reinforce members of the Turkish military already there training the Kurdish Peshmerga and Hashd al-Wataniforces in the lead-up to...
Statistics show that the private car, when measured against the space it occupies, as the most costly and extravagant mode of transport from land use perspective. This stems from that fact that the average car is only in use for around 10% of time. The private car not only...
On 4 February, a Saudi military spokesman, Ahmed al-Asiri, announced that the Arabian kingdom is ready to send ground troops to Syria to fight against Daesh/ISIS, should the US-led coalition decide to carry out ground operations against the terrorist group.
It is not the first time Saudi Arabia shows its...
Perhaps it was the difficult economic conditions at home, or because of the unpopular decisions that risks making President Putin the man of the elite rather than the man of the people, but what was clear to see in his annual press conference on 17 December was the Putin...
The coalition government in the United Kingdom during the years 2010-2015 had a cautious approach to Iraq and later Syria. The legacy of the invasion in 2003 and the Bush/Blair alliance led to the UK public being averse to foreign intervention, and the financial crisis of 2008 meant that...
