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.
Since 2003, Iranian influence has deepened in Iraq through a wide array of Shiite militias. Several militia leaders and politicians spent years in exile in Tehran during Saddam Hussein’s reign in the 1980s and 1990s. One of Iraq’s most powerful armed groups, the Badr Organization, was formed in 1982 by Iraqi exiles to fight Hussein with the support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
With the Islamic State defeated in Iraq, policymakers in Washington have shifted gears to focus on rebuilding communities displaced by the conflict. Yet there are already conflicts in the administration about how best to channel humanitarian and development assistance.
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.