Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Kirk H. Sowell is the principal of Utica Risk Services, a Middle East-focused political risk firm.
Jordan’s latest government and constitutional changes could allow the monarchy to shift the burden of austerity to an elected government
Tensions among Haider al-Abadi, Muqtada al-Sadr, and their rivals result from power struggles, not real disputes over reform.
The latest budget confirms that Jordan is increasingly dependent on public debt and foreign aid to prop up continued spending—especially on energy subsidies.
Despite the small but important military victory in Ramadi, Iraqi forces still face significant challenges fighting the Islamic State in Anbar and reining in Shia militias in Diyala and Basra.
Abadi’s reforms have been mischaracterized both in terms of their content and the reasons driving opposition to them.
Despite initial optimism, Jordan’s draft election law does little to erase parties’ disadvantage against tribal candidates.
The political rise of the Badr Organization and its leader, Hadi al-Ameri, is paving the way for a garrison state in Iraq.
Despite their mixed military record, Iraq’s Shia militias are growing in public standing in the wake of Ramadi.
The Iraqi government’s military stumbles gave Iran-aligned militias a chance to push back, but for now Prime Minister Abadi holds on.
Amid the fight against the Islamic State, Iraq is witnessing another struggle for power between Abadi’s nationalist Shia factions and Iranian-backed militias.
Sada is an online journal rooted in Carnegie’s Middle East Program that seeks to foster and enrich debate about key political, economic, and social issues in the Arab world and provides a venue for new and established voices to deliver reflective analysis on these issues.
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