It is no easy task to write about a wound that has yet to heal. In Nasiriyah and the Reed Hut, published by Al-Masar Publishing House, Ahmed Abdul Sattar reopens this wound
Founded in secularism, this strong republic faces further change. Religious groups are rising, it has joined NATO but not the EU, and has yet to resolve the Kurdish question. This is its story so far.
From the 1639 Shirin Palace Agreement to the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, Kurdish self-determination was ignored by the world's dominant powers who were looking out for their economic interests.
Signed on 24 July 1923, the treaty had profound consequences for the Middle East and beyond. On its centennial, an understanding of it rests on an appreciation of the complex factors that led to it.
When states are attacked, authority gravitates towards institutions capable of mobilising resources, enforcing discipline, and coordinating a military response
Cairo and Tehran have been at loggerheads since 1979, but the Iranian threat has always acted as a check on Israeli ambitions. If Iran is completely defeated, Israel will reign supreme.
Even if it stays on the sidelines of the US-Iran war, the country is fragile. Unlike larger economies that can absorb shocks in global markets, it has little room to cushion the impact.