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2. Normalisation in Ankara-Baghdad Relations: A New Era?
- Author:
- Athanasios Manis
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- The Iraqi and Turkish leadership have restored direct contact, thus providing an opportunity for dialogue. However, the extent to which this can lead to a sustainable normalisation process and furthermore to a deepening of their relationship is highly questionable. This policy brief argues that the main problem lies with the fact that a win-win scenario of overlapping or complementary interests does not seem to be driving the leaderships’ actions. Instead, it is ad hoc developments external to their bilateral relationship that have a positive effect for the time being, such as the rapprochement between Russia and Turkey, and subsequently a concerted attempt between Russia, Turkey and Iran to stabilise the region.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and International Relations
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
3. The Future of the Middle East
- Author:
- Dlawer Ala’Aldeen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- The Middle East is still in flux and will remain so for some time, it will possibly be another decade before the ultimate power balance is reached. Policy makers of Iraq and the KRI who wish to pursue paths of their own design, must look carefully at the trends in power dynamics and the policies of the global and regional powers before designing their strategies.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
4. Could the Trump Administration Mean a New Beginning for the Kurds?
- Author:
- Zachary Gallant
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- The shift of United States (US) foreign policy from a heavy international focus with traditional alliances over the past century to the anti-globalist administration promised by President-elect Donald Trump will necessarily upset longstanding regional relations in the Middle East and North Africa. This Policy Paper discusses some of the Trump administration’s most likely foreign policy advisers and their positions on Kurdish self-governance, as well as those of some previous policymakers whose legacies he will be unable to escape.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and International Relations
- Political Geography:
- America and Middle East
5. Education as a way out of IS: Deradicalisation in Mosul
- Author:
- Maisie Cook
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- With the liberation of Mosul fast becoming a reality, attention is turning to post-IS dynamics. Without sufficient deradicalisation policies, including within the education system, the narrative of the Islamic State will lie dormant or transform, creating the potential for another extremist group to emerge.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Education, Radicalization, and ISIS
- Political Geography:
- Iraq
6. Iran and its Opposition Kurdish Parties: The Need for Dialogue
- Author:
- Hawraman Ali
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- Iran and its opposition Kurdish groups have been involved in intermittent armed conflict for decades. Considering the new political realities of the region and the domination of US politics by the Republicans after the recent election, Iran should engage in dialogue with its Kurdish opposition parties.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Iran and Kurdistan
7. A Transitioning Turkey: Out with the Old, in with the New?
- Author:
- Athanasios Manis
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- Turkey is experiencing a crisis of orientation in its internal and external affairs as a result of a transition between a dying and an emerging vision. The end of the current transitional period will not necessarily mark the end of the country’s crisis, but most probably its entrenchment or deepening.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Turkey
8. The Reconstruction of Islamic State-Liberated Areas
- Author:
- Irene Costantini
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- Nearly thirteen years since the beginning of one of the largest programmes for post-conflict reconstruction, Iraq finds itself again in need of international financial assistance, but the conditions are hardly the same. This time the role of the international community should be matched by the Iraqi political leadership taking responsibility for the country and all of its population.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, and ISIS
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and Middle East
9. The Day After: Governing the KRI
- Author:
- Dylan O’Driscoll
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- The fight against the Islamic State (IS) has caused a ‘rallying around the flag’ effect amongst Iraqi Kurds. Once IS is defeated key political and economic issues long neglected in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI) will come to the fore. Thus, it is imperative they are addressed now, as failure to make inroads will have dire consequences for the KRI.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Geopolitics, and ISIS
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
10. Trump’s Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Four Key Issues
- Author:
- Dave van Zoonen
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- Donald Trump, the next President of the United States, will soon be confronted with the difficulty of translating campaign rhetoric regarding his foreign policy in the Middle East into policy and positive outcomes. He is thus likely to be forced to make significant concessions.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- America and Middle East
11. Yet Another Complication in Nineveh: Retaking Tal Afar
- Author:
- Tomáš Kaválek
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- Hashd al-Shaabi launched an offensive on Tal Afar on 29 October; the looming recapture of Tal Afar prompted a strong reaction from Turkey, which maintains ties to the Turkmen population there. Tal Afar is thus yet another flashpoint of competing interests between Ankara, Erbil, Baghdad, and Tehran and can possibly further destabilise the situation in Nineveh.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
12. Competing Interests in Shingal: Yazidis Caught Between Millstones
- Author:
- Tomáš Kaválek
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- Nearly two years since the north side of Shingal was liberated from the Islamic State, most of the Yazidi population is still displaced. Yazidis are trapped between millstones of the competition of exogenous actors, such as the KDP, the PKK-linked forces, and Baghdad, over the control of the strategically important disputed territory of Shingal.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Security, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
13. A Development-Oriented Stabilisation Policy for Mosul
- Author:
- Irene Costantini
- Publication Date:
- 10-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
- Abstract:
- The Islamic State (IS) has not only surprised everyone with its cruelty but also by proving to be one of the world’s richest terrorist organisations. Now that its economic gains are draining due to military setbacks and financial strains, IS-held territories are increasingly struggling through economic hurdles – the challenge ahead is to link military interventions against IS with concrete economic plans.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Middle East