Politics & Policy

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…

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…

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…

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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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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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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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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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Arivan

How Diplomatic Engagement Shapes Political Recognition: Kurdistan Region and Iraq at Munich Security Conference

One of the key roles of comparison in the social sciences is to provide perspective: a striking example of this can be seen in the contrasting engagements of Iraqi Prime…
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Arivan

A Bold Theory: Do the PKK-Turkey Talks Signal Regional Realignment Amid the Disruption in the Balance of Power?

In October 2024, two months before the Assad regime’s collapse in Syria, Turkish ultra-nationalist leader Devlet Bahçeli shocked political observers by shaking hands with members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality…
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Arivan

How Time as an Active Temporal Tool Shapes the SDF’s Calculations Against Damascus’s New Government

“Time” has emerged as a critical element in the Syrian Kurdish SDF’s strategic calculations regarding its ongoing dispute with the new Damascus government.  The Syrian Defence Minister recently told Reuters…
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