Iraq’s three-year battle against the so-called Islamic State (IS) empowered an array of armed actors that enjoy state legitimacy yet operate autonomously from state security forces.
- +1
- Renad Mansour,
- Yezid Sayigh,
- Liz Sly,
- Heiko Wimmen
Renad Mansour is no longer with the Carnegie Endowment.
Renad Mansour was an El-Erian fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, where his research focused on Iraq, Iran, and Kurdish affairs.
Prior to joining Carnegie, Mansour was a researcher for the Pembroke Security and Intelligence Initiative at the University of Cambridge, where he also taught history, international relations, and comparative politics of the modern Middle East.
Mansour is a fellow at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut, where he was assistant director from 2011 to 2012. He was an independent editor and advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government Civil Society Ministry from 2008 to 2010.
Mansour’s writing has been published by Foreign Policy, the Bologna Center Journal of International Studies, and the Al-Jazeera Center for Studies.
Iraq’s three-year battle against the so-called Islamic State (IS) empowered an array of armed actors that enjoy state legitimacy yet operate autonomously from state security forces.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) remains divisive, poorly understood, and plagued by internal divisions, as it is both recognized by the state and at the behest of nonstate leadership figures. Key challenges involving the PMF will shape Iraq’s political and security future.
Hoshyar Zebari, no paragon, has fallen victim to his rivals’ political machinations.
Different political, tribal, and governmental actors are seeking more power and influence through their involvement in the battle for Mosul.
Turkey's perception of the Kurdish groups in northern Syria as an existential threat has been the driving force for its increased military involvement in Syria.
Iraqi security agencies must adjust to the Islamic State's new tactics of targeting civilian centers in major cities.
The tragic Baghdad bombings are a consequence of the Islamic State's changing tactics and divisions within Iraq's political and security establishment.
Two years after the self-proclaimed Islamic State gained control of Mosul, the prospects for liberation and the city’s future remain uncertain.
Fallujah is an opportunity for the central government to regain the trust of Iraq's Sunni population.
The Iraqi Army is facing some significant challenges as it seeks to retake Fallujah from the self-proclaimed Islamic State.