Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
The Trump administration has decided to steer humanitarian aid funding to Christian and other minority communities in Iraq, against the advice of some officials at the State Department and others at the United Nations, who initially feared the move could backfire.
Earlier this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that a moment eagerly awaited by the Iraqi people had finally arrived: victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Government forces had rooted out ISIL from its last pockets along the Syrian border, Abadi told the nation. The defeat of the...
Iran has virtually completed a “Shiite Crescent” of influence across the heart of the Middle East, using a string of battlefield successes to link a network of allies and proxy forces now spanning from nation’s border with Iraq all the way to Lebanon.
لقاء مع مدير برامج الشرق الأوسط في معهد السلام الأميركي سرهنك حمه سعيد قضاء الإقليم يصدر مذكرة اعتقال بحق 11 نائبا وقياديا في فصائل الحشد الشعبي ردا على مذكرات مماثلة بحق مسؤولين أكراد
Sarhang Hamasaeed spoke to SiriusXM POTUS Ch. 124 about the tense week in which the Iraq Army and Kurdish forces clashed in the disputed area of Kirkuk. Hamasaeed explained since ISIS has been...
Sarhang Hamasaeed spoke to SiriusXM POTUS Ch. 124 about the results of the non-binding Kurdistan independence referendum. Hamasaeed explained the internal and international consequences of the referendum having taken place in addition to the need to prevent an escalation of tensions that could lead to violence with Shia militias, the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces being in proximity to one another. He also addressed the role the international community including the United States can take to facilitate and mediate between Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
After returning from a recent visit to Iraq, Sarhang Hamasaeed spoke to SIRIUSXM POTUS Ch. 124 about the current situation on the ground and the work USIP is doing to hold reconciliation dialogues. He explained some of the key issues for the country’s stability including tensions between the Shia militia presence in Sunni areas, revenge violence, and the upcoming Kurdish referendum.
“Sinjar could be a flashpoint for an internationalized tension ... where you have the sensitivities between minorities themselves, and you have regional countries like Turkey and Iran who have a stake in this,” said Sarhang Hamasaeed, an Iraqi expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Sunnis oppose Shiites. Turkish proxies resist Iranian-backed Shiite militias. Groups favoring a unified region quarrel with those who want division. Kurds seek autonomy. There's even fracturing within tribes and families, especially between Sunni Arabs who shunned ISIS and those who did not, according to Institute of Peace executive Sarhang Hamasaeed. Violence is never far away. "There are so many triggers," he says.
“If there is a perception that the U.S. will keep its military presence in Iraq and will have a mission more than just training the Iraqi security forces, then that will increase the incentive for the Shi’ite militias to more directly apply pressure on the United States to leave,” said Sarhang Hamasaeed, director of Middle East Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington.