One of the odd side effects of both the U.S. focus on withdrawal from Afghanistan and on the possible revival of the JCPOA agreement with Iran is that U.S. relations with Iraq seem to be getting only passing attention at best. In practice, U.S. relations with Iraq, its development as a stable and secure state, and ensuring that it can become independent of Iranian influence may well be far more important than leaving Afghanistan and reviving the JCPOA.

The U.S. has many strategic objectives in the MENA region, but forging a successful strategic relationship with Iraq may now be one of America’s highest priorities. Important as the dealings with Iran and other issues driving stability and instability in the MENA region are, retaining U.S. ties to Iraq, building it up as a stable state and counterbalance to Iran, reducing its deep internal tensions and the lasting threat of extremism may well represent America’s most important immediate strategic challenges in the region.

The commentary, entitled, Iraq: The Missing Keystone in U.S. Policy in the Gulf, is available for download here. It addresses some of the key issues involved, but both the security and civil dimensions are highly complex. Accordingly, two separate Annexes have been developed that explain the security and civil challenges involved in depth.

Повний текст доступний за адресою:
https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/210426_Iraq_Missing_Keystone_V3.pdf?n6yOdr1MAaaKzWU2cz0zsu13dQLoi0c_