Iraqi Kurdistan: Mosul and beyond (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/11/02/iraqi-kurdistan-mosul-and-beyond/

Racing to the finish line, ignoring the cliff: The challenges after Mosul (Ian Merritt, Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/09/19/racing-to-the-finish-line-ignoring-the-cliff-the-challenges-after-mosul/

Why the Iran deal’s second anniversary may be even more important than the first (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

At the time that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran was being debated here in Washington, I felt that the terms of the deal were far less consequential than how the United States responded to Iranian regional behavior after a deal was signed. I see the events of the past 12 months as largely having borne out that analysis. While both sides have accused the other of "cheating" on the deal in both letter and spirit, it has so far largely held and neither Tehran nor Washington (nor any of the other signatories) have shown a determination to abrogate the deal or flagrantly circumvent its terms. However, as many of my colleagues have noted, the real frictions have arisen from the U.S. geostrategic responset o the deal.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/07/14-iran-deal-anniversary-pollack

Civil wars and U.S. engagement in the Middle East (Shadi Hamid, Adrianna Pita, Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/research/podcasts/2016/07/civil-war-middle-east-isis

The refugee crisis won’t end until the civil wars do (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2016/06/14-syrian-civil-war-refugees-pollack

Iraq Situation Report, Part I: The military campaign against ISIS (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

The U.S.-led coalition’s military campaign to “defeat” Da’esh (the Arabic acronym for ISIS) appears to be going better than is widely realized. The media has begun to pick up on this, but so far, the accounts do not seem to do it justice. The coalition has trained (or retrained) six Iraqi brigades, typically called the “Mosul Counterattack Brigades” or just the “Counterattack Brigades.” It was these formations that did most of the work at Ramadi and several are being shifted north to begin the Mosul operation. They are performing considerably better than other Iraqi brigades, a fact that is increasingly understood throughout the Iraqi government, boosting their prestige and the influence of the United States.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/03/28-military-campaign-against-isis-pollack

Security and public order (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

The security situation facing the Middle East is grave and appears to be trending toward greater violence and instability. The states of the region have tended to focus on traditional, external threats but the internal threats they face—from domestic unrest, state failure, and civil war—have become both more common and dangerous.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2016/02/me-security-public-order-pollack

Fight or flight: America’s choice in the Middle East (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

The modern Middle East has rarely been tranquil, but it has never been this bad. Full-blown civil wars rage in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Nascent conflicts simmer in Egypt, South Sudan, and Turkey. Various forms of spillover from these civil wars threaten the stability of Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have risen to new heights, raising the specter of a region-wide religious war. Israel and the Palestinians have experienced a resurgence of low-level violence. Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have weathered the storm so far, but even they are terrified of what is going on around them. Not since the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century has the Middle East seen so much chaos.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/02/16-americas-choice-in-middle-east-pollack

What the liberation of Ramadi means for Iraq, Iran, and the U.S. (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2015/12/29-liberation-of-ramadi-isis-pollack

(Istituto fondamentale - Middle East) Ending the Middle East’s civil wars (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2015/08/10-ending-me-civil-wars-pollack

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) U.S. policy toward the Middle East after the Iranian nuclear agreement (Kenneth M. Pollack, Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2015/08/05-us-policy-iran-nuclear-deal-pollack