By Safa Hussein For nearly a year now, most of the articles written about Iraq by western observers and journalists have focused on the ongoing departure of American troops, drawing a gloomy picture of post-withdrawal Iraq at the end of this month. Their arguments are usually based on the insufficient readiness of Iraqi security forces, concerns …

By Safa Hussein The geopolitics of the Middle East has changed drastically over the past ten years, and remains unsettled. Soon after the occupation of Iraq in 2003 and the complete destruction of its military capability, the strategic power balance in the region roughly manifested itself in two competing alignments: the United States, Israel, and Saudi …

By Safa Hussein BAGHDAD: If government formation in Iraq is to be compared with that of other countries, the two most distinguishing characteristics of the Iraqi case would be the lengthy time involved and the influence of foreign countries. Since the March 7, 2010 national elections, the number of visits by Iraqi political leaders and delegations …