Hundreds of Iraqis protested against the government on Monday in a “Day of Regret” on the anniversary of the election that resulted in a second term for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. And in a move that has drawn criticism from many quarters, the security forces have shut down the offices of two small parties that […]
Iraq has seen its share of demonstrations over the past week, with number of fatalities reaching into double figures, public offices being burned, and the governors of Basra and Babil being forced to resign; the governor of Ninewa, a brother of the parliamentary Speaker, has rejected calls from Nouri al-Maliki and others to follow suit. […]
With popular uprisings sweeping across the Middle East in recent weeks, Iraq too has seen its share of protests, but the focus here is different. Rather than trying to bring down the (elected) government, the people are expressing their anger at problems such as unemployment, sub-standard public services, scarcity of food, and the corruption and […]
This week marks the first birthday of our Iraq Business News weekly newsletter -- from a modest start, our newsletter is now read by nearly 8,000 people each week, while our website receives more than 100,000 visitors each month. Our readership includes some of the best-informed decision makers in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, security, […]
Over the past week, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has declared that he will take a 50% cut in salary, and will not stand for a third term of office; the general consensus is that this is an attempt to head off any possible popular uprising against his rule. As we pointed out last week, […]
The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. […]
With political and social upheaval, first in Tunisia and now in Egypt, the big question on many minds at the moment is to what extent the unrest will spread to other countries in the Arab world. But despite the undoubted poverty in Iraq, it is rarely mentioned as possible candidate for a popular uprising, and […]
The British parliament has issued a briefing paper for MPs. Written by Ben Smith, the paper is entitled "Iraq at the creation of its new government". Please click here to download.
The radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has reportedly returned to Iran, as our security expert John Drake had predicted – John also reports that the past week has been one of the most violent of recent times in Iraq. Nevertheless, several major international deals have been finalised in rhe past days, including: the agreement to build […]
Let's start with a little test: Can you rank the following economies in order of the expected risk of their defaulting on their sovereign debt – Ireland, Argentina, Dubai, Greece, Iraq? The correct order, based on the cost using credit default swaps (CDS) to insure their debt against default, is: Greece (riskiest), Ireland, Argentina, Dubai, […]
When asked what represented the greatest challenge for a statesman, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan replied: “Events, my dear boy, events”. Fifty years later, the same thought must have gone through the mind of Nouri al-Maliki as he prepared to meet the Kuwaiti Prime Minister, Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah, in an historic meeting in Baghdad, […]
Another wild-card was thrown into the Iraqi mix on Wednesday with the return of radical Shia'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr from nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran. A fierce opponent of the United States and head of Iraq's feared militia, the Mehdi Army, al-Sadr's return was reportedly low-key, and was not entirely unexpected following […]
