Kirkuk

Although I knew that Faris would take the Kirkuk route this time to get Erbil, I just wanted to ask that question to break the early morning silence. Travelling routes between Erbil and Baghdad were few, Baghdad-Kirkuk-Erbil or Baghdad-Mosul-Erbil being the only options. As far as I was concerned, either route was extremely dangerous. Each route had different terrain and peculiarities, yet they shared a similar distance and the fear of hidden and expected attacks. These areas were essentially…

Some believe that this America’s shale revolution is economically beneficial and an indicator of its journey to energy independence. David Brooks, an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times argues in his article, “Shale Gas Revolution”, that the U.S. shale gas industry has produced more than half a million new jobs, not only in traditional areas but also in “economically-wounded” locations such as western Pennsylvania and Ohio. He also advocates for America’s decreased reliance on foreign…

The previous topics provide the baseline for the reader to understand why support for the Kurds is not a cut and dry issue but instead invites an ethical dilemma. The US is forced to choose between established allies, the GOI or Turks, and Kurdish partners, the KRG and Syrian Kurds. The Kurds have made a concerted effort to garner positive international opinion through reform of their ideals and practices. Surrounded on all sides by ethnic groups who have opposed and repressed them over the…

Can intervention work? A case study of the Iraq War Over the past two decades, intervention has been an important device in the Western foreign policy toolkit to solve conflicts outside their own territories. The word has been associated with both positive and negative connotations: on the one hand, humanitarian, democratic, noble; on the other hand, ambitious, expensive and dangerous. One of the most recent cases of intervention is the Iraq War from 2003 to 2011. In light of the fact that five…

Dispersed ethnic groups throughout history have experienced violence, repression, and have been denied human rights within the government they are residing. Due to the persecution, these groups search for ways to create their own nation and become independent. According to Joseph Stalin, for an ethnic group to become a nation they must be “a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up…

Gavriel, who raised cheers for the Army at the Mosul meeting of July 11th, went out to plead for the Assyrians. He explained who he was, and said that his nephew, Ezra Effendi, had long been an officer in the Iraqi police. He showed his nationality papers, but these were torn in pieces before his face and he was shot in cold blood. A priest named Ismail who had taken refuge in the police post was driven out by the police, a rope was tied round his neck and he was kicked down the steps and…

Imagine a small, yet strong group of people living in mountainous regions in the Middle East. For centuries, these people have developed their own culture and identity. Yet, they are not acknowledged as their own sovereign and the nation that lays claim to them viciously persecutes them. For the Kurdish people of northern Iraq, the disdain of their neighbors has plagued them for centuries. On March 16, 1988, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered a series of chemical attacks on the Kurdish people…

Image that you are at the park wait to meet up with a friend. When someone sneaks up behind you and tickles your ribs. You instantly swing your elbow back as hard as you can, hitting that someone in the stomach. Once you realize that you have knocked the wind out of your friend, you feel bad and I’m sure your friend is pretty upset. This has happened to everyone. Human nature still dominate against the nurture aspects of a learned civilization. I myself have experienced instinctual behavior.…

[quote][b]Originally posted by SIGNYM: [quote]In an email sent to his business partner and Democratic fundraiser Jeffrey Leeds, [u]former Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote of Hillary Clinton, “Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris.”[/u][/quote] Indeed! [quote]Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State during Barack Obama’s first term was an [u]unmitigated disaster for many nations around the world.[/u] Neither the Donald Trump campaign nor the corporate media have adequately…

“The world is anarchic.” That is how realists may see the world and relations amongst state are only necessary in order to gain states’ own interests. They believe that states are competitive towards one another with the primary goal of gaining power. Their theory is often contradicting the theory of the liberalists and idealists, which believe in cooperation and the existences of mutual benefits. The realists believe that states are meant to struggle for power and act in a way to prioritize the…