In The News

The New York Times: Iraqi Forces Sweep Into Kirkuk, Checking Kurdish Independence Drive

David Zucchino October 17, 2017
The Kurds voted overwhelmingly in a referendum for independence from Iraq. Three weeks later the government of Iraq responded by sending the military to the oil-rich region. “In clashes that pit two crucial American allies against each other, government troops seized the vital city of Kirkuk and surrounding oil fields, ousting the Kurdish forces who had controlled the region for three years in...

The Washington Post: Why Every Other Country in the Iran Nuclear Deal Is Standing by It

Rick Noack and Erin Cunningham October 13, 2017
The United States is not recertifying the Iran nuclear deal, a task that must be completed every three months. UN inspectors report that Iran is in compliance. Other countries are party to the deal: Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran. Europe contends the deal, by preventing proliferation, is better than no deal. Other countries can stick with the deal without US support and expect...

Los Angeles Times: “World's Most Robust” Nuclear Inspection Program Under Fire

October 5, 2017
A team of nuclear inspectors conduct constant surveillance of nuclear sites in Iran and run stringent tests with nuclear equipment that is under fiber-optic seals. “The International Atomic Energy Agency describes the transcontinental monitoring program it operates as the toughest and most technologically advanced inspections regime put in place to prevent a country from developing an atomic bomb...

The Economist: Saudi Arabia Will Finally Allow Women to Drive

September 29, 2017
On September 26 Saudi Arabia announced an end to its longstanding ban on female drivers. As the lone country in the world “to have such a stricture … [the law has become] a symbol of the ultraconservative kingdom’s repression of women.” As the Economist observes, “For many Saudi women, the change is long overdue.” Saudi Arabia adheres to strict interpretations of sharia law and tribal customs....

BBC: Iraqi Kurds Decisively Back Independence in Referendum

September 27, 2017
BBC News reports that 92 percent of the people of northern Iraq, including Kurds and non-Kurds, favor pursuing independence for Kurdistan in a non-binding referendum. Turnout was more than 70 percent. Iraq’s prime minister, urging a cancellation of results, encouraged dialogue. “Kurdish leaders say the ‘Yes’ vote will give them a mandate to start negotiations on secession with the central...

Reuters: Kurds Press Historic Independence Vote Despite Regional Fears

Raya Jalabi September 22, 2017
About 30 million Kurdish people are spread throughout the Middle East in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, and in recent years many fought fiercely to protect their communities against extremists. Iraqi Kurds are expected to pursue independence starting with a referendum and transform their semi-autonomous region into a new country known as Kurdistan. US and United Nations officials have tried to...

The New York Times: “It’s a Slow Death”: The World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis

Shuaib Almosawa, Ben Hubbard and Troy Griggs September 20, 2017
Directors of UNICEF, WFP, and WHO visited Yemen in July and described the “world’s worst cholera outbreak in the midst of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.” Since the start of the conflict when the Houthis overthrew the government and gained control of Sana’a in 2014, Yemen has slowly collapsed. Frequent bombings have contributed to the deaths of more than 10,000 civilians and crippled the...