How Baghdad’s Customs Checkpoints Have Diminished KRG’s Trade Power
Six months into Baghdad’s customs centralization policy with the Kurdistan Region, traders are increasingly relocating their operations to Iraqi-controlled territories—a…
Kurdistan’s Widening Income Gap: Expenditures Outstrip Earnings
The Iraqi national census and socio-economic surveys published by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, in coordination with the Kurdistan Regional…
How KRG PM Masrour Barzani’s Privatisation Drive is Transforming Relations with the PUK and Baghdad
Since assuming office in 2019, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has aggressively pursued privatisation across numerous sectors…
Written by
Arivan
Damascus-SDF Agreement Signals Turkey’s Strategic Compromise: PKK Dissolution in Turkey, SDF Survival in Syria
The newly announced agreement signed today between Ahmad Al-Shara’a, president of the HTS-led administration in Damascus, and Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), appears to have been…
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Written by
Arivan
Four Insights on How Assad’s Remnants Set a Strategic Trap by Exploiting Syria’s Factional Chaos
A few days ago, remnants of the Assad regime ambushed and killed several police officers in Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of the Alawite community. In response, armed factions affiliated with…
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Written by
Arivan
From Fighting Turkey to Shaping It: How Ocalan and Ankara Are Rewriting the Kurdish-Turkish Relationship
The current PKK-Turkish talks must be viewed within their regional and global context, as the PKK issue has long been regionalized and even globalized alongside internal Turkish and Kurdish politics.…
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Written by
Arivan
Rethinking Poverty Rates in Kurdistan: Why Standardized Measures Misrepresent True Poverty Levels
The Kurdistan Region has released a specialized survey on social conditions, conducted alongside a broader socioeconomic assessment spanning Iraq. This regional effort sheds light on a critical flaw in how…
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Written by
Arivan
PUK’s Talabanis Face Backlash Over Sudden U-Turn on KRG Salary Domiciliation Policy
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the junior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), is facing intense scrutiny and backlash after a dramatic reversal on its stance regarding salary…
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Written by
Arivan
Why Does Barzani Provide Sanctuary to Ba’athists in Erbil?
Recently, a series of controversies have emerged surrounding the presence of Ba’athist figures in Erbil and Masoud Barzani’s role in granting them sanctuary. Iraqi politician Ayad Allawi, one of Barzani’s…
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Written by
Arivan
Power Struggle Over Iraq’s PMF Leadership: Retirement Law Deepens Shiite Divisions
The impending retirements of Abu Fadak al-Muhammadawi, Chief of Staff of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and Abu Zainab al-Lami, head of the PMF Security Agency, have ignited discord within…
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