Iraq

Money Talks

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MARCH/APRIL 2010

The Shooting War

An exclusive collection of work by the world's most acclaimed conflict photographers.

MARCH/APRIL 2010

Peak Insurgency

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | MARCH/APRIL 2010

Interview: Mohamed ElBaradei

The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nobel Peace Prize laureate speaks up about the Bush administration, Iran, and his rumored bid to become the next president of Egypt.

Interview by DAVID KENNER | JANUARY 26, 2010

Iraq's Politics of Fear

Why 500 predominantly Sunni candidates are being excluded from Iraq's upcoming national election -- and how the decision threatens to thrust the country back into sectarian strife.

BY J. SCOTT CARPENTER, MICHAEL KNIGHTS | JANUARY 18, 2010

Life in Hell

Almost seven years later, the most catastrophic legacy of the Iraq war is shaping up to be the more than 2 million refugees who are locked in limbo on its borders with no hope of moving on. Here's what daily life is like in the monotonous depths of a humanitarian nightmare.

BY KATHRYN SCHULZ | JANUARY 12, 2010

Down But Not Out

Al Qaeda in Iraq threatens to spoil many of the gains made during the past two years. Here's why the organization stills poses a threat -- and what Washington and Baghdad can do about it.

BY MYRIAM BENRAAD | DECEMBER 2, 2009

When Generals and Ambassadors Feud

Take it from this former ambassador: Disagreements over the war in Afghanistan may do more long-term harm than short-term good.

BY JAMES DOBBINS | NOVEMBER 13, 2009

Call in the Civilians

Counterinsurgency is at least 50 percent civilian. So where have all the Foreign Service officers gone?

BY RON CAPPS | OCTOBER 26, 2009

Disastrous Lessons

Gordon M. Goldstein's Lessons in Disaster ignores history -- and makes dangerous recommendations to the Obama White House today.

BY MARK MOYAR | OCTOBER 19, 2009

Think Again: Lawrence of Arabia

Afghanistan is a mess. Suicide bombs are still going off in Iraq. Is nation-building doomed to failure? It's time to consult the original insurgent, T.E. Lawrence.

BY JOHN C. HULSMAN | SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Iraq's New Surge: Gay Killings

As U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill testifies before Congress today, Iraqi's security is far from assured. Militias now targetting the socially marginalized could soon take their killing spree mainstream.

BY RASHA MOUMNEH | SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

Strategic Communication: Getting Back to Basics

Writing in Joint Force Quarterly, Adm. Michael G. Mullen critiques the U.S. government's approach to winning hearts and minds.

BY MICHAEL G. MULLEN | AUGUST 28, 2009

Syria Clenches Its Fist

Assad to Obama: Thanks but no thanks.

BY ANDREW J. TABLER | AUGUST 28, 2009

A Bright Shining Slogan

How "hearts and minds" came to be.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | SEPT. / OCT. 2009

It's Time to Declare Victory and Go Home

The following is an internal memorandum from Col. Timothy R. Reese, chief of the Baghdad Operations Command Advisory Team, Multinational Division-Baghdad, Iraq. Its existence was first reported by Michael Gordon in the New York Times and Spencer Ackerman in the Washington Independent.

JULY 30, 2009

Interview: Mehdi Khalaji

The former Iranian seminarian speaks with FP about his unorthodox life, Moqtada al-Sadr, and what it's like to try and become an ayatollah.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JULY 27, 2009

The Rise of Ayatollah Moqtada al-Sadr

What is the fiery Iraqi cleric doing in Qom, Iran?

BY BABAK RAHIMI | JULY 27, 2009

Seven Questions: Jay Garner

The man who first led reconstruction efforts in Iraq says that Arab-Kurd tensions are overblown and that "soft partition" would have been a good idea.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JULY 15, 2009

License to Kill

When I advised the Israel Defense Forces, here's how we decided if targeted kills were legal -- or not.

BY AMOS N. GUIORA | JULY 13, 2009

A Hollow Victory for Iraq

How the militants are celebrating the U.S. withdrawal.

BY RANJ ALAALDIN | JULY 9, 2009

Obama's Shallow Realism

Why the U.S. president shouldn't react to one bad foreign policy with another.

BY DAVID GARDNER | JULY 8, 2009

This Week at War, No. 23

What the four-stars are reading -- a weekly column from Small Wars Journal.

BY ROBERT HADDICK | JULY 2, 2009

Iraq's Real Deadline

The true test for Iraq will come from its next round of elections -- and the real U.S. troop withdrawal.

BY JOOST HILTERMANN | JUNE 29, 2009

Iraq’s Mud Is Getting Wetter

As U.S. troops pull out, it's starting to look an awful lot like 2003.

BY ANTHONY SHADID | JUNE 29, 2009

Tale of Two War Zones

As global attention shifts from Iraq to Afghanistan, from Bush's war to Obama's war, Foreign Policy reconsiders the inevitable—but deeply flawed—comparisons between these two misunderstood countries. We consulted with war correspondents, do-gooders, and public officials who told us to forget the surface similarities in the daily blood-and-guts news. Iraq and Afghanistan may have roughly the same population, but, from the price of a kabob to the explosives that will blow your legs off, they couldn't be more different: a warning to those who would seek to import Big Ideas from one war zone to the other.

BY ANNIE LOWREY | JULY/AUG 2009

Why Israel Won't Attack Iran

BY STEVEN A. COOK | JUNE 9, 2009

Memo to Iraq, from Colombia

How to go from being a conflict-ridden deathtrap to a sunny tourist haven.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | FEBRUARY 19, 2009

Iraqi Election Success? Not So Fast

The purple fingers are back. But it's far too early to declare Iraq's provincial elections a victory for democracy.

BY MICHAEL KNIGHTS | FEBRUARY 2, 2009

This Week at War, No. 3

What the four-stars are reading -- a weekly column from Small Wars Journal.

BY ROBERT HADDICK | JANUARY 23, 2009