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…
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…
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…
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Written by
Arivan
Afrin and Qamishli could become transit hubs in two major regional rail corridors
A major shift may be underway around two Syrian Kurdish border geographies: Afrin in the west and Qamishli in the east. For most of the past decade, Afrin in the…
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Written by
Arivan
The Pipeline Deal That Could Remake Iraq’s Oil Map
The 1973 Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline agreement, last renewed in 2010, terminates on July 27. Turkey gave formal notice of termination in July 2025 and has kept a draft replacement…
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