With the oil-rich city of Kirkuk under its control, the government of Iraqi Kurdistan is moving toward formal independence from Iraq.

While it’s expected that it will be the Kurds who separate from Iraq, the real beneficiaries from a break-up of the country would be the Shia. They’re the ones who control 80 percent of the country’s oil wealth, and they would prefer not to share it with hostile neighbors.

It took just one day for President Obama’s announcement of US air strikes in ISIS-held Iraq to translate into operational reality, and the first target chosen by US forces illustrates why this policy shift came about.

Politicians in Baghdad continue to squabble as news of violence and hardship filters out of ISIS-occupied Iraq.

What the civil war in Syria failed to expose, Iraq threatens to bring out into the open.

Examining the events leading up to recent fighting in Anbar province and what it might mean for Iraq's future.

How will the ongoing civil war in Syria is impact sectarian tensions in Iraq?

The leader of Iraqi Kurdistan is making his mark on Iraqi politics.

Just hours before an official end to US combat operations in Iraq, President Nouri Maliki used a major speech to declare that Iraq is now independent and its security forces are up to the task of keeping order.

The last US combat brigade has crossed over from Iraq into Kuwait, but many questions still remain over the role of troops left behind and the stability of the Iraqi government going forward.

August 3rd, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - As expected, President Obama has confirmed that August 31st will mark an end to combat operations in Iraq. However, it is commonly accepted that his announcement is more about honoring campaign promises than reacting to the reality on the ground in Iraq.

With all eyes on the faltering NATO campaign in Afghanistan, Iraq’s political stalemate continues to jeopardize its long-term security outlook.

As the global media narrows its collective focus onto NATO’s struggle to re-take Afghanistan, sectarian tensions are threatening to rip apart the political fabric of Iraq.

While a surge in Afghanistan and protests in Iran have been grabbing all of the headlines, Iraq’s political landscape has quietly started to heat up in the lead up to elections next March.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s declaration that ninety percent of Iraq’s terrorists enter the country by way of the Syrian border epitomizes his presumed re-election strategy for January polls: blame foreigners.