Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into how the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 not only dismantled the government but destroyed an entire nation, forcing a mass exodus of certain ethnic and religious minorities.
While many in Iraq's north are happy that the Kurdish militias are taking territory back from ISIS, Iraq's Arabs in the north are also afraid about what it will mean for them. Some Kurdish Peshmerga fighters these days are declaring an end to cooperation with Arabs.
ISIS is dominating the headlines, but how much do we really know about the brutal terrorist group? How did ISIS become a major force so quickly? You may be shocked to learn that their startling rise to power may be followed by a relatively quick fall from grace.
Refugees pouring into the makeshift camps in northern Iraq will soon face yet another disaster: winter. Temperatures are expected to fall below zero as winter approaches, and aid agencies are unable to cope with the massive number of needy Iraqis trying to escape ISIS.
Sectarian discord in Iraq is mounting, and new prime minister Haider al-Abadi must convince Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to keep working together in a united Iraq. He's Iraq's best hope, but even a change in leadership may not be enough.
Nadhim Zahawi is a Kurd born in Iraq, but he represents Stratford-on-Avon in the British Parliament. He recently returned home to northern Iraq to see what the British government could do to help in the current crisis.
Nahida Ahmed Rashid began her military career years ago, fighting for the Kurdish separatist cause. Now she's the highest-ranking woman in the Kurdish peshmerga and squaring off with her troops against Islamic militants who've taken northern Iraq by storm.
Frontline's new documentary "Losing Iraq" retraces the missteps the US government made in Iraq — and the deadly results of those poor decisions.
Iraq's Parliament has been able to decide on just one thing in the past few days — and that's to meet at a later time. Politicians haven't been able to choose a speaker or other key positions to form a new government. A former Iraqi government spokesperson says its the worst dysfunction since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
One of the big sticking points between the Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq is where the money has been spent over the last several years. We've pulled the data and mapped out where the international development projects are located.
There's a sense of despair among Iraqis, that their country will be able to get itself on track. But they're not clamoring for international intervention either.