What a Grand Mosque Reveals About Why Kurdistan Can’t Form a Government
Masrour Barzani’s grand mosque borrows the language of Gulf monarchy and the personal ambitions of Mohammed bin Zayed. Read closely,…
Mazloum Abdi’s European tour and the limits of European influence
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi recently visited several European countries, including Italy and France. In Paris, he held meetings with French…
The Fulcrum Doctrine: Washington’s Economic Architecture Across Iraq and Syria
On 16 June the US Embassy in Baghdad released a joint statement from Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Special Presidential…
Written by
Arivan
The 8% Oil Share That Could Define the Limits of SDF Integration and Decentralization
The Syrian Energy Ministry has reportedly reached an agreement with HKN Energy over the Rmeilan oilfields. The deal matters not only for its implications for Syrian oil production but because…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
With the Regime Still Standing in Tehran, Trump Finds Its Scapegoat in the Kurds, Tel Aviv in Turkey
Trump has now accused “the Kurds” five times of diverting weapons intended for Iranian anti-government protesters, claiming Washington sent guns and ammunition through Kurdish intermediaries who kept the shipments for…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Syria Moves SDF Fighters Far From Home in Test of Army Integration
On the Syria-SDF integration front, a notable development took place today: The Qamishli brigade, composed entirely of SDF fighters and numbering approximately 1,300, was transferred to al-Nabk military camp in…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
For Iraq, Hormuz Is a Boomerang
Iraq’s oil output dropped from approximately 4.3 million barrels per day before February’s Hormuz closure to around 1.3 to 1.4 million barrels, almost entirely for domestic consumption, with exports through the southern…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Hasakah: After the Territory, the Fight Over Coercive Power
The Latest on SDF-Damascus Integration: • The region is in a transitional period, and security has been deteriorating steadily but at an accelerating pace across the SDF-held pocket, especially in…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Iraq’s Hardline Factions Refuse a Disarmament Others Have Accepted
Iraq’s most powerful armed factions have begun responding to a renewed drive to bring all weapons under state authority. The political cover came from the Coordination Framework, which declared its…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
How Israel’s Iranian Kurdish plan against Iran collapsed
Three months after the war with Iran began, a fuller account shows the northern front Israel hoped to open through Iranian Kurdish groups was undone within a week, defeated less…
Read More (3 min. read)