The President has announced that a complete military withdrawal from Iraq will take place over the next 12-18 months. What concrete policy steps can the US government take, immediately and during the withdrawal, to encourage peace and stability in Iraq?

We do not underestimate the challenges posed by this charge. Iraq is a traumatized and politically fragmented country. Neighboring states may be tempted to intervene in Iraq’s internal conflicts to protect their own interests. The credibil more...

Here's a bold proposal for the next US president: Issue an order to convert the controversial US Embassy in Baghdad into a university for the Iraqi people. This powerful message from our new leader would convey to the Iraqi people in particular a new direction for US policy.

Reports suggest that US combat troops will be on their way out by 2011. But the larger question of what gets left behind remains unanswered. The negotiations between Iraq and the United States on the long-term presence o more...

On February 13, 2008 the Iraqi parliament simultaneously passed a law that sets forth the relationship between the central and provincial governments, an amnesty law and the 2008 national budget. The passage of these laws was the result of months of negotiation and last- minute substantive and procedural compromises that could portend a shift away from merely ethnic and sectarian-based alliances to inter-ethnic and sectarian issue-based politics. At the same time, Iraqi lawmakers may have discov more...

Let's face it - we were conned. Iraq had no WMDs and no links to Al Qaeda. Saddam Hussein never tried to purchase uranium from Niger or steel rods for centrifuges. There was no threat - and the Bush administration and its allies knew it. They were clever, though. In the months preceding the invasion, we were drenched with drip-drip propaganda from the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon.
Source: Al Jazeera

The dramatic improvement in security in Iraq has changed the U.S. policy debate. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is taking a bigger role, the Maliki government’s capacity is improving and the U.S. is gradually stepping aside.

A major reduction in the U.S. role is on the horizon, yet critical questions remain. How much influence does the U.S. have on Iraqi internal affairs and on the Iraq it leaves behind? Are there buttons that Washington can push to accelerate political progress? Or is the more...

U.S. presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have offered distinctly different visions for the future of U.S. troops in Iraq. But their plans might not matter because the U.S. future in Iraq is being decided now, according to a key Iraqi political leader.

Both Obama and McCain's Iraq proposals contrast with a draft agreement recently reached by the Iraqi and U.S. governments. It calls for most U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.

In enumerating the surge’s successes and setbacks and warning of the challenges still ahead, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, used his April 2008 testimony before the U.S. Congress to ask for more time and a pause in troop withdrawals. With both, the administration argued, the relative calm generated by the surge could yet be parlayed into a set of critical deals needed to provide a stronger foundation for a reborn but highly dysfunctional Iraq. What the past year has shown more...

The world was divided in 2003 into countries that supported or opposed the Iraq war. The UN was in the middle. Here we recount the arguments for and against made by eight key players, and where they stand now.

The Republic of Iraq acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 15 August 2007, becoming the 155th State Party. The treaty will enter into force for it on 1 February 2008. Iraq’s initial transparency report required under Article 7 is due no later than 30 July 2008. Iraq’s treaty-mandated deadline for destruction of all stockpiled antipersonnel mines is 1 February 2012, and its deadline for destruction of all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control is 1 February 2018.

This report, jointly researched by Transparency International, Tufts University's Feinstein International Center, and the Overseas Development Institute's Humanitarian Policy Group, documents perceptions of corruption in humanitarian operations through interviews with staff of several leading international humanitarian NGOs.

The report finds that many humanitarian agencies are aware of corruption risks and have developed a range of strategies to prevent it. Whistleblower policies, codes of c more...