Hamzeh Hadad

On the 8th anniversary of the passing of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, this passage from the introduction of “Shalash the Iraqi” shows a glimpse of what made him different from his peers.

So glad to see @hamzehhadad.bsky.social and his colleagues back with the Iraqi Voices podcast after a long hiatus! Highly recommend if you're looking for calm, thoughtful conversations about Iraqi politics.

Understanding Iraq's Stability Dividend

🎙️The best podcast on Iraq is back!

Hassan Hadad, @alwaeli.bsky.social, Ali Al-Mawlawi, and @hamzehhadad.bsky.social discuss how sustained political calm has translated into a stability dividend and examine what steps are needed to secure long-term prosperity.

open.spotify.com/episode/3LS5...

Coming from @stanfordpress.bsky.social in the summer of 2026! @lisablaydes.bsky.social and I edited a book "Ba'thist Iraq through Archives" with a star studded list of contributors!

There are plenty of lessons to learn from Iraq in how to implement federalism, but claiming it’s a failure as Sharaa has done in the past is just false.

Regarding Iraq this is simply not true. Iraq’s Kurdistan region has had semi-autonomy since 1991 & constitutionally recognized as a federal region. How would a Kurdish region in Syria put Iraq at risk?

“He warned that any effort aimed at preserving the SDF’s structure as is, would ‘put the region at great risk and may lead to a large-scale war’ and could also ‘put Iraq and Turkey at great risk, as well as the Syrian state.’” www.rudaw.net/english/midd...

The Quiet Demise of Jordan’s Political Space | Journal of Democracy In the shadow of Gaza’s destruction, the Jordanian regime has quietly repressed one of the main sources of the country’s political activism.

I wrote a piece for @jodemocracy.bsky.social on a little-noticed court decision last week to effectively permanently outlaw Jordan’s teacher’s union
www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...

My latest for @ecfr looks at efforts to find 100s of 1000s of Iraqis who are missing.Many are believed to be in mass graves. #Iraq has so many mass graves it has a specialized directorate. It even has a Mass Graves Day.Every number is a person who was part of a family that is integral to a community

Now that I am back to posting on here. Important to flag down this brilliant paper by @raniaab.bsky.social for @ecfrmena.bsky.social.

Unearthing the past: Iraq’s mass graves and the quest for justice A European-backed UN body explored mass graves in Iraq between 2018 and 2024, supporting steps towards justice and reconciliation—and providing wider lessons for the region…

Unearthing the past: Iraq’s mass graves and the quest for justice: ecfr.eu/publication/...

As the regional conflict spreads, this paper from IISS explains how Iraq has managed to stay out of it for the most part.
www.iiss.org/publications...

Why Iraq gives Syria a hand By welcoming Syria’s new leader – a former Al Qaeda terrorist – Iraq shows a generosity born of its own violent past to lift a neighbor emerging from conflict.

Why Iraq gives Syria a hand
www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/t...

Unpacking Federalism in Iraq: Insights from Basra, Ninawa and Sulaymaniyah In recent years, existential crises – like war and terrorism – have dominated headlines, research, and policy discussions on Iraq. As a result, important topics, like federalism, have often been pushe...

It’s ironic as part of the establishment of a region in Iraqi Kurdistan was to address centralization by Baghdad. Many in Sulaymaniyah over the years have accused Erbil of the same thing.

To read more about this & federalism in Iraq, check out my paper: www.academia.edu/120730929/Un...

🇮🇶 Iraq officially has 19 provinces now with Halabja.

It will be interesting to see if there will be noticeable change for the people of Halabja. Previously as part of Sulaymaniyah in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, there has been dissatisfaction with centralization by the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is the main obstacle to negotiations with the US With the considerable risk of war with Israel and a worsening economy, the government temporarily eases its grip on civil society.

📰 Read Visiting Fellow @hamzehhadad.bsky.social 's comments on #Iran’s waning influence in Iraq for @lemonde-en.bsky.social here 👇

The road ahead: Six ways Europeans can urgently support a stable Syria After the fall of Assad, many Syrians hope for a better future. But intense political and economic challenges risk derailing the transition. Europeans urgently need to do more to help stabilise Syria’...

A stabilising transition in Syria is far from assured. My piece after recent visit calling for Western govs to urgently step up support amid deep challenges & some worrying signs. Should start with more direct assistance given sanctions relief unlikely to be short-term answer ecfr.eu/article/the-...

Iraq's population grows to 46 million people following nationwide census - The World from PRX Iraq’s population now stands at 46 million people following a nationwide census that was held in November of 2024. The census, the first in 40 years, has been billed as a success by Iraq’s government....

My interview with @theworld.org regarding Iraq’s census results. theworld.org/segments/202...

Debating US Primacy in the Middle East Announcing a new and rather relevant new publication at a regrettably pivotal time

Debating US Primacy in the Midde East - introducing my new essay and spectacular collection of IR theories and Middle East experts trying to make sense of the nature and limits of US power.

abuaardvark.substack.com/p/debating-u...

It is going to be interesting to see whether Al-Sharaa comes to the Arab League Summit this year in Baghdad. Then again, the Iraqi political class set the precedent to have murderous Syrian leaders be present at the Arab League when they pushed for Bashar Al-Assad’s return.

Once again, Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s comments on post-2003 Iraq & what he did there are nauseating & insulting.

I guess, trying to downplay the fact he was a foreigner joining a terrorist group that blew up innocent Iraqis on a daily basis is part of the rehabilitation campaign.

Iraq’s search for security and sovereignty after Assad’s collapse Iraq must recalibrate its relationship with a weakened Iran, in dialogue with the new Trump administration.

My first piece for 2025, co-authored with @marsin.bsky.social for @brookings.edu.

www.brookings.edu/articles/ira...

Recently appointed head of Iraqi intelligence Hameed Al-Shatri is the first Iraqi official to visit Damascus post-Ba’ath. There were a handful of Iraqi officials that were in charge of handling relations with Syria during Ba’ath regime. No surprise that a new but trusted figure was sent by Baghdad.

I wonder if we are gonna see the same scholars & analysts who have tried to paint Saddam as non-sectarian do the same with Bashar Al-Assad.

Agreed. Been saying this for days. people weirdly pushing some expectation of mass deployment flooding into Syria. Spillover not off the cards, especially with reports of ISIS resurgence in NE (deir ezzor), but like you, I don’t see big push to defend Bashar, espec with such spectacular offensive.

The meeting in Baghdad once again shows the strategic advantage Iraq has in being able to talk to both Iran & Arab states. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is why the West shouldn’t listen to hawks who want to push & lose Iraq entirely to Tehran.

Iraq once again caught in a difficult spot. Little sympathy towards the Ba’ath regime next door as evidenced by prominent leaders like Sadr calling on Iraq to stay out of the conflict. While some fear a spillover like 2014, both status of security & local population is different.

Avoiding the next front: Iraq’s fight to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict As Israel and Iran clash, Iraq’s Shia leadership is trying to rein in domestic Iranian-backed paramilitaries to shield the country from becoming a new battleground in the Middle East

Amid talk of Iraqi militias moving to Syria, following talk of poss Iranian strikes on Israel from Iraq, read @hamzehhadad.bsky.social on how the Iraqi pol & religious estab working to keep the country out of the wider regional war, fearful of the pain it could bring ecfr.eu/article/avoi...

Avoiding the next front: Iraq’s fight to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict: ecfr.eu/article/avoi...