Dozens of demonstrators were killed across Iraq on Thursday and Friday as violent protests against government corruption swelled into a mass spontaneous uprising sweeping much of the country, the worst… Read more »
The elections in Iraq and Lebanon earlier this month present a fragile but important counterpoint to a region in turmoil, notes Tamara Cofman Wittes, a Senior Fellow at Brookings’ Center… Read more »
In 2005, Iraq’s Constitution recognized an autonomous Kurdistan region in the north of the country, run by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Today, with a referendum on independence in speculation for… Read more »
I was just sixteen years old in 2003 when US troops toppled Saddam Hussein, a dictator who feared any institutions separate from the state of the ruling party, writes Yazidi… Read more »
Although Iraq is plagued by corruption, armed actors, and rising poverty and inequality, it’s democratic experiment is not condemned to failure, says Marsin Alshamary, a research fellow at the Harvard… Read more »
Nearly a year since the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, the humanitarian crisis and human rights record under the Taliban remains dire, CBS News reports. Despite the demands of the U.S…. Read more »
Successful democratic transitions are not driven by specialist pro-democracy NGOs, but by ‘durable’ groups such as labor unions which address everyday, mundane needs rather than compete for political power, research… Read more »
In response to the many recent incidents of violence, civil society organisations and activists in Sudan have started a campaign under the name “Protect the right to live”, Dabanga reports. Dozens… Read more »
In both Iraq and Lebanon’s unfolding protests, people’s demands for accountable governance, economic relief and an end to corruption stand at odds with identity-based sectarian solidarity, argues Bassel F. Salloukh,… Read more »
The streets of Baghdad were silent Tuesday after a week of peaceful protests — against corruption, unemployment and lack of basic services — turned deadly. More than 100 people were… Read more »