2012-09-05 By Richard Weitz Despite the widespread civil disorders that began in Syria in March 2011, the Iraqi government has pressed on with its policy of rapprochement with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Maliki initially refrained from taking a position on the violence in Syria, saying only that Iraqis want…
2012-09-02 By Richard Weitz Since Saddam was ousted in 2003 until recently, two issues have dominated the Iraqi-Syrian relationship. Syria’s initial decision to host the remnants of the Iraqi Baath Party who fled Baghdad aroused fear and resentment with the new government in Baghdad. Iraqi authorities suspected that Syria was allowing…
2012-08-28 by Richard Weitz Iraq’s relations with other Arab countries are complex and often troubled. Arabs and others consider Iraq a core Arab state despite its peripheral location on the eastern flank of the Arab world, where it borders two large non-Arab countries, Iran and Turkey. Yet, Iraq’s diverse population…
2012-08-27 By Richard Weitz Despite their deep historical, cultural, and economic ties, relations between Iraq and Syria have been characterized by mutual suspicion and hostility during much of the last half century. The two countries have distinctly different religious compositions. Most Syrians are Sunnis, while most Iraqis are Shiites. In practice,…
2012-08-26 By Richard Weitz Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which is not a GCC member, are destined to have intense ties due to the deep ethnic, geographic and religious connections between their citizens. Recent Jordanian-Iraqi relations are driven by issues regarding safe havens for terrorists, Iranian involvement in Iraqi…
2012-08-21 By Richard Weitz I have dealt with the bilateral relationship between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In this piece, I am going to deal with Iraq’s bilateral relationships with the other GCC states. Kuwait Historical factors make Iraq’s relations with GCC member Kuwait especially important. Kuwait’s territorial integrity and sovereignty were…
2012-08-18 By Richard Weitz The GCC governments generally defer to Saudi leadership regarding Iraq. For years, the Saudi authorities have seen Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki as an Iranian agent, but it should not be forgotten that they also had poor relations with his predecessors, Ilyad Allawi and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, as well.…
2012-08-14 By Richard Weitz Iraq-GCC relations have perhaps now reached one of their most critical stages. This turning point has been reached due to several concurrent developments. Iraq’s precarious internal and external conditions after the U.S. military withdrawal, the enduring and widespread impact of the Arab Spring, and the profound…
