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From the frontline to Venice: how a Kurdish film is reclaiming the story of women in the war against ISIS

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  Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj A Kurdish filmmaker is taking one of the most overlooked stories of the war against ISIS from the battlefields of Iraq to one of the world’s most prestigious cinematic stages. You Will Not See Paradise If You Kill a Woman , directed by Kurdish filmmaker Halkawt Mustafa, follows a female Peshmerga sniper who secretly enters ISIS-held Mosul in an attempt to rescue her younger sister. Set against the collapse of Iraqi defenses and the rise of ISIS in 2014, the film does more than revisit one of the darkest chapters in Iraq’s recent history. It places a Kurdish woman at the center of a war narrative that has too often been told through the experiences of men, governments, militias, and international coalitions. That choice is politically and culturally significant. The war against ISIS produced thousands of stories of courage, sacrifice, displacement, captivity, resistance, and loss, yet many of the women who participated directly in the conflict remain marginal fi...
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Old friends, new calculations: the strategic reset in China–North Korea relations

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  Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj For decades, China and North Korea have been bound by a relationship that is simultaneously intimate, transactional, suspicious, and strategically indispensable. Beijing has long regarded Pyongyang as a buffer against the U.S.-South Korean alliance, while North Korea has relied heavily on China for trade, diplomatic protection, and economic lifelines. Yet the relationship has rarely been one of uncomplicated friendship. North Korea has repeatedly resisted Chinese pressure, while Beijing has often viewed Kim Jong-un’s nuclear ambitions as a destabilizing liability rather than an asset. What is now changing is not simply the warmth of bilateral diplomacy, but the strategic environment surrounding it: Russia has moved dramatically closer to Pyongyang, the United States is again confronting the possibility of a volatile Korean Peninsula, Japan is expanding its military capabilities, and Beijing is preparing for a regional order in which Taiwan may become the decisi...
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The New-Old Middle East is back: what the return of regional power politics means for Kurdistan

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Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj     The New-Old Middle East Is Back: What Regional Power Politics Means for Kurdistan As Washington steps back from its role as the region’s unquestioned security manager, Ankara, Tehran, Baghdad, and other regional powers are gaining greater freedom to bargain, hedge, and coerce. For Kurdistan, this emerging order presents both new opportunities and a dangerous strategic vacuum. For much of the post-2003 era, Kurdish strategic thinking in Iraq rested on an assumption that was never entirely correct but nevertheless became deeply embedded in political calculations: the United States would remain the ultimate external guarantor of the regional order. American airpower helped protect the Kurdistan Region during the war against the Islamic State, Washington became the principal military partner of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, and American diplomatic pressure repeatedly constrained Baghdad, Ankara, Tehran, and Damascus from pursuing certain policies...
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Korek Telecom fires back at Iraq’s regulator: “Political” crackdown threatens billions in investment

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Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj     Korrek Telecom has launched a sharp public challenge to Iraq’s Media and Communications Commission, accusing the regulator of taking politically motivated and legally questionable measures that could damage the country’s investment reputation. A growing confrontation between Korrek Telecom and Iraq’s Media and Communications Commission is turning into more than a dispute over regulatory decisions. It is becoming a test of how far Iraq’s regulators can go in confronting a major private-sector telecommunications company—and what the consequences could be for investors watching the country’s business environment. In a strongly worded statement, Korrek Telecom’s CEO condemned the latest decisions taken by the Iraqi Media and Communications Commission, describing the measures against the company and its subscribers as “unfair,” “unprofessional” and politically motivated. The company said it was not surprised by the regulator’s actions, arguing that it had bec...
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Why Europe’s strategic imagination deficit is deadly

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Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj   Europe’s strategic imagination is dead. A new generation of politicians has lost the ability earlier leaders possessed — leaving the continent dependent and unprepared for a post-American order. Strategic imagination is never an abstract faculty. It is a product of the geopolitical contexts in which political elites operate—shaped by threat perceptions, institutional constraints, and the distribution of power among allies. For much of the postwar period, European states possessed enough of this capacity to help design the order they inhabited. Today that capacity has withered, leaving Europe intellectually and politically unprepared for a world in which American strategic primacy can no longer be taken for granted. In a July 2026 commentary in Survival , Riccardo Alcaro argues that Europe’s strategic-imagination deficit is largely generational. Earlier cohorts of political leaders, shaped by the Cold War, still possessed the capacity to generate original strate...
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Lindsey Graham Passing Reshapes Republican Foreign Policy—and Raises Questions for the Kurds

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  By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis The sudden death of one of Washington's most influential Republican hawks removes a powerful congressional advocate for Ukraine, Israel, a hardline Iran policy, and Kurdish aspirations in the Middle East. The death of Senator Lindsey Graham removes one of Washington's strongest advocates for the Kurds, Ukraine, Israel, and a tougher US policy toward Iran. Lindsey Graham's Sudden Death Leaves a Strategic Void in Washington WASHINGTON — Senator Lindsey Graham , one of the Republican Party's most influential foreign policy voices and one of President Donald Trump's closest congressional allies, has died at the age of 71 following a sudden illness, according to a statement released by his office. His unexpected death comes at a particularly volatile moment in American and Middle Eastern politics. Graham had recently traveled to Ukraine, remained deeply involved in congressional debates over Iran and Israel, and was p...
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Lindsey Graham's Death Leaves a Void in US-Kurdish Relations

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  By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis     The passing of Senator Lindsey Graham removes one of the most influential American advocates for the Kurdish people, raising questions about the future of bipartisan support for Kurdistan amid shifting US foreign policy priorities. The death of Senator Lindsey Graham removes one of Washington's strongest advocates for the Kurdish people, creating uncertainty for future US-Kurdish relations. The Loss of a Longstanding Friend of Kurdistan The sudden death of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has prompted an outpouring of tributes not only across Washington but throughout the Kurdistan Region, reflecting the rare position he occupied as one of the most consistent and influential American advocates for Kurdish interests. The Washington Kurdish Institute described Graham as a steadfast supporter whose commitment to the Kurdish people extended beyond political rhetoric, offering condolences to his family while highlighting...
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The Middle East’s new order: four forces that could reshape the region by 2030

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By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Kurdish Policy Analysis       The Middle East is entering a hinge moment in which Gulf diplomacy, economic transformation, post-war reconstruction and regional security competition could determine whether the next decade brings greater stability—or a more dangerous era of permanent disorder. The Middle East is entering a new multipolar era. Gulf diplomacy, economic transformation, post-war reconstruction and regional security will shape the region’s future. The Middle East is approaching one of the most consequential geopolitical transitions in decades. The regional order that emerged after the Cold War—and was dramatically reinforced by the 2003 Iraq War, the Arab Spring, the rise of Iran-backed armed groups, the U.S. war on terrorism and the Abraham Accords—is increasingly giving way to something different. It is not yet clear what will replace it. But one thing is becoming increasingly evident: the Middle East is becoming more regionally driven,...
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