Mazloum Abdi at Munich: What It Was, and What It Was Not
Mazloum Abdi’s participation in the Munich Security Conference mattered, but it must be understood within its proper context. Inflating its…
The Syria Crisis Triggered a Different Battle in the Kurdistan Region: Over What It Means to Be Kurdish
When fighting between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Damascus-aligned forces escalated in early-to-mid January, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq responded…
Iraq’s Power Struggle Has Two New Wildcards: A U.S. Veto and a Weakened Iran
Three months after Iraq’s November 2025 parliamentary elections, the country remains without a government. The Coordination Framework — the umbrella…
Written by
Arivan
The Perception Bubble: How an Echo Chamber Shaped the SDF’s Strategic Miscalculation
Following the SDF’s major territorial losses last month, much of the commentary has argued that the March 10 integration agreement stalled because PKK pressure from Qandil blocked pragmatic concessions. That…
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Arivan
The Maverick Playbook: How Bafel Talabani Is Trying to Turn Kurdistan’s Math Against the KDP
Bafel Talabani is running a two-front strategy against the KDP that has eliminated Masrour Barzani’s path to forming a government on his own terms. In the Kurdistan parliament, Bafel has…
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Written by
Arivan
ENKS Seeks Its Own Lane as Damascus Plays Kurdish Factions Against Each Other
A delegation from the Syrian Kurdish National Council, known as ENKS, met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara and Foreign Minister Asad al-Shaybani in Damascus yesterday. The visit marks the first…
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Arivan
What the SDF-Damascus Deal Really Says About Kurdish Autonomy
As more details of the SDF-Damascus agreement become available, the contours of the deal can be summarised in five points: 1. Integration and the Hasakah division. The text states that…
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Arivan
Trump’s Veto Throws Iraq’s Prime Minister Race Into Turmoil
After Iraq’s Shia-led Coordination Framework bloc, following lengthy deliberations, announced controversial former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki as its candidate, US President Donald Trump publicly opposed the move, further deepening the…
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Arivan
How Turkey Turned the Smelka Crossing Into One of the Middle East’s Most Surveilled Borders
As intermittent clashes in Syria’s Hasakah province move closer to Al-Jawadiyah (known in Kurdish as Çil Axa), a key route connecting the Smelka border crossing between Iraq’s Kurdistan Region and…
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Written by
Arivan
As ISIS Detainees Move Out, Pressure Mounts on the SDF in Hasakah
Despite the ceasefire extension for an additional 15 days, both the Damascus-led Syrian Army and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), continue sending reinforcements to the Hasakah area, suggesting the prospect of…
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