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The Houthi Presence in Iraq: From a Support Network to Operational Depth

Firas Elias

The Houthi Presence in Iraq: From a Support Network to Operational Depth

Dr Firas Elias conducted a particularly in-depth investigation into the presence of Yemen’s Houthis in Iraq, focusing notably on their presence and activities, networks, modes of operation, missions, as well as their training arrangements and military cooperation mechanisms. Originally written in Arabic, this article provides a synthesis of this unique investigation, based largely on first-hand information gathered in the field. It thus offers unprecedented insight into how the Houthi presence in Iraq has been structured and how it has evolved.

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CATEGORIES

Unpredictable Leadership and Mutual Distrust Threaten U.S.-Iran Nuclear Rapprochement: Interview with F. Gregory Gause III

June 17, 2025

F. Gregory Gause III, Lyna Ouandjeli

This interview was conducted at the beginning of June. Following the events of June 13, certain sections have been updated and footnotes added to reflect recent developments. Nevertheless, the original transcription captures the prevailing sense of uncertainty in the region and the potential for military escalation in the event of renewed tensions. The conversation explores the conditions that had allowed for a relatively cordial dialogue between the United States and Iran on the nuclear issue. However, as emphasized throughout the interview, uncertainty remains not only in the regional dynamics but also in the evolving and ambiguous role of the United States.

Iraq’s poll after two decades of ‘democracy’?

June 11, 2025

Sardar Aziz

In this article, Sardar Aziz analyses the fragile state of democracy in Iraq twenty years after the first post-dictatorship election in 2005.

Iran’s Strategic Outlook on U.S. Relations in a Shifting Middle East

June 6, 2025

Lyna Ouandjeli

This article examines the evolving dynamics of the U.S.-Iran relations in light of recent geopolitical shifts, particularly after October 7, 2023.

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Syria: The Disarmament of the Kurds, or the End of Rojava Era 

This article examines the content of the compromise reached between Damascus and the Syrian Kurds, its implication for the regional balance – Turkey, the United-States, Israel, and the peace process with the PKK – and places it within the long-term context of the Kurdish question, comparing it to the far more institutionalised but as fragile trajectory of  Iraqi Kurdistan, whose structural vulnerability, despite thirty years of constitutional autonomy, has been highlighted by Adel Bakawan. Finally, this article considers what the end of the Rojava era might mean for the future of the Kurdish national movement as a whole. 

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