Iraq goes to the polls on 11 November. But with few Iraqis expected to actually vote, the real contest lies in how power will be divided among the elites who dominate the system.
Read the new #IraqInitiative explainer by @renadmansour.bsky.social ⤵️
www.chathamhouse.org/2025/10/iraq...
🌟NEW 'Take Five' from Director/CEO Juliet Dryden & Comms Intern Eve Harrison-Taylor 🌟
Our top 5 readings/podcasts on #internationalstudies from the last two weeks!
inc: @cfr.org @jamessweeney100.bsky.social @opendemocracy.net @renadmansour.bsky.social
& more: www.bisa.ac.uk/articles/tak...
Iraq has mostly stayed out of the regional conflict. But that stability now looks fragile. My take on what’s at stake 👇
To the war cheerleaders who believe military escalation will bring clear, positive endgames for Iran/the region; if Iraq and Afghanistan didn’t teach you, history has a few more lessons.
A timely episode on The History of Bad Ideas: 'The Decisive Battle'
www.ppfideas.com/episodes/the...
Why does peacebuilding keep failing? Because it wasn’t built for today’s conflict economies.
We trace how gold from Sudan, fuel from Iran and migrant smuggling via Libya connect profit-driven conflicts across the Middle East & Africa.
Our
@ChathamHouse
report:🧵👇
Join us tomorrow at Chatham House for the launch of our latest paper on conflict economies in the Middle East and Africa, exploring why today’s conflicts are more protracted and harder to resolve.
Register to attend in person here 👇
📢 NEW EVENT: Navigating protracted conflicts in a multi-aligned world
This half-day event follows the conclusion of the @chathamhouse.org XCEPT research initiative.
📅 12/6
⏰ 9.00 - 14.00 BST
📍 Chatham House
For further information and to register ⤵️
www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/r...
📣 Announcing the 2025 #IraqInitiative Conference!
Join us on 1 October @chathamhouse.org & online for our 7th annual conference to explore how Iraq can secure more lasting stability and economic resilience in an era of regional and global uncertainty.
📺 'Because of the relative stability in the last few years in Iraq, this project presents an opportunity to gain some autonomy and to gain some power.'
@renadmansour.bsky.social speaks to @wsj.com about Iraq's plans to construct an alternative to the Suez Canal ⤵️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OypN...
Webinar: The future of Iraq–US relations under Trump
Join @renadmansour.bsky.social, Krikor Der-Hagopian, Mike Knights and Sanam Vakil for a virtual #IraqInitiative discussion.
Watch LIVE ⤵️
www.facebook.com/CHMENAProg/v...
📢NEW PAPER by @chathamhouse.bsky.social XCEPT Research
'The shape-shifting ‘axis of resistance’: How Iran and its networks adapt to external pressures' by @renadmansour.bsky.social, @haydersh.bsky.social & @haidhaid22.bsky.social.🧵
www.chathamhouse.org/2025/03/shap...
Read the full research paper by @renadmansour.bsky.social, @haydersh.bsky.social and @haidhaid22.bsky.social for an in-depth examination of the axis of resistance resiliance and the policy approaches needed to counter it. 9/9
www.chathamhouse.org/2025/03/shap...
A deeply divisive conflict between Iraq’s two foremost judicial figures has recently come to light, raising alarm that the country’s political stability may unravel, writes @sajadjiyad.bsky.social in a new #IraqInitiative article.
Read the analysis on Kalam ⤵️
kalam.chathamhouse.org/articles/the...
Free to read Global Policy - @chathamhouse.bsky.social e-book 'Borders of Conflict: Navigating Policy in a Transnational Ecosystem', edited by @renadmansour.bsky.social
www.globalpolicyjournal.com/projects/gp-...
Podcast🎙️| What will be the flashpoints of 2025?
@gideonrachman.bsky.social, @renadmansour.bsky.social and @leslievinjamuri.bsky.social join the podcast this week to discuss the crises and flashpoints facing the world this year.
'If the argument for removing the U.S. troops from Iraq was that the fight against ISIS was over and the region is stable, that calculation has changed following regime change in Syria,' says @renadmansour.bsky.social via ABC News.
abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...
Iraq has appeared relatively stable under PM Sudani and the ruling SCF in recent years.
But that stability remains precarious, making the coming year pivotal for the country, @renadmansour.bsky.social writes.
Should have tagged @renadmansour.bsky.social (didn't realise he was on here!)
Fascinating, innovative mapping of the relationship between supply chains & conflict in the Levant by Hayder El-Shakeri and Renad Mansour:
www.chathamhouse.org/2024/11/how-...
Transnational conflict in the Middle East is fuelled by both ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ trade. Mapping these cross-border dynamics can help understand and address violent conflict.
Renad Mansour: great insight on resilience of the Axis of Resistance www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/axis-...
Highly recommend this by @renadmansour.bsky.social on how the Axis of Resistance has changed in recent years:
1. More horizontal & less top-down Iran-driven since Soleimani's assassination.
2. A shift in the balance of power to the Houthis & Kataib Hezbollah post-Oct. 7.
Very thought-provoking.
In response to Hamas’s Oct 7 attack, Israel launched a regional war to reshape the Middle East. But the groups it now takes on, with their deep state connections and transnational ties, have shown previously that they can adapt to shocks. My piece on why that matters now.
