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Iraq
"The death of his son potentially deprives him of an heir, according to Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI). He said the death could serve to inspire the group further, "and highlight how the many young cubs of the caliphate are useable as terrorist tools, something which people may have worried about. But such a clear leadership signal on this topic will bolster people's use of them as potential attackers". "
Isis leader Baghdadi's son killed in Syria, terror group claims
In The News, 4 July 2018 Tags: International Security Studies, Iraq, Counterinsurgency, Syria, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
Psychological Occupation and Resistance in Mosul
Multimedia, 6 April 2018
Mike Stevens on a new study published by RUSI that tells the extraordinary story of how resistance activists and fighters in Mosul ‘punctured Daesh’s image of invincibility’ leading to the city’s liberation in 2017.
Tags: Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
Blood Between Us: Psychological Occupation and Resistance in Mosul
RUSI Journal, 6 April 2018
Michael Stevens
The resourceful resistance effort in Mosul provides useful lessons on how psychological operations can be effectively countered.
Tags: Iraq, Resilience
"'Sometimes, the removal of a leader can cause a substantial degradation of a group, But in most cases, a leader’s death only speeds up the rise of even more radical successors,' said Pantucci "
Osama bin Laden still matters. Islamic State leader Baghdadi not so much.
In The News, 2 November 2017 Tags: International Security Studies, Iraq, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
""Control of water supplies gives strategic control over both cities and countryside ... It's life or death," Michael Stephens, a research fellow for Middle East studies at the Royal United Services Institute, told Al Jazeera. "If you control water in Iraq, you have a grip on Baghdad, and you can cause major problems." "
The waterkeeper of Iraq
In The News, 27 October 2017 Tags: RUSI International, Iraq, Global Security Issues, Resilience, Middle East and North Africa
"Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, told The Times: “From a government perspective, them dying out there is the easiest solution.”
He accepted that although some schoolgirls might have been unaware of the dangers in Syria, anybody in their late teens upwards would have to be “exceptionally naive” not to realise they were making a “very bad life choice”. "
Killing British jihadists ‘is only option’, says Rory Stewart
In The News, 23 October 2017 Tags: UK Counter-terrorism, International Security Studies, Iraq, Syria, UK, Terrorism, Middle East and North AfricaPages
Iraqi Kurds: A Referendum Which May Make History
Commentary, 25 September 2017Michael Stephens
Iraqi Kurds have voted in an independence referendum few in either the Middle East or the rest of the world thought wise. But that was the easy part – gaining independence will be much more difficult.
Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
Hybrid Warfare in the Middle East: We Must Do Better
Commentary, 7 March 2017Clovis Meath Baker
There is something about the way our opponents confront us, the way they combine different military and non-military measures in campaigns that have clear political objectives that we find really difficult to counter.
Iraq, Syria, Middle East and North Africa
Financial Intelligence and the Evolving Threat from Daesh
Commentary, 27 December 2016Tom Keatinge
As the threat from Islamic State evolves, security responses must too. Financial intelligence must continue to play a critical role in identifying and disrupting new threats, in investigating foreign terrorist fighters and prosecuting their supporters.
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF, Iraq, Syria, France, Al-Qa'ida, Terrorism, Europe, Middle East and North Africa
Chilcot – The Judgement of History
Commentary, 7 July 2016Michael Clarke
The Iraq Inquiry's devastating critique reveals how Tony Blair led the UK into a strategic blunder from which neither Britain nor the region has so far recovered.
The decade after 9/11, Iraq, The War on Terror, UK
Chilcot Iraq Inquiry: The Iraq War Reading List
Commentary, 1 July 2016In the run-up to and ever since the Iraq War in 2003, RUSI has offered analysis and expertise on the conflict and its implications for UK defence and security. Here we present a selection of articles and commentary from our archives.
Iraq, UKPages
Psychological Occupation and Resistance in Mosul
Multimedia, 6 April 2018Mike Stevens on a new study published by RUSI that tells the extraordinary story of how resistance activists and fighters in Mosul ‘punctured Daesh’s image of invincibility’ leading to the city’s...
Tags: Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
ISIS Faces Endgame in Mosul - Karin von Hippel
Multimedia, 29 June 2017 Tags: Iraq, Terrorism, Terrorism
The 2016 Battle of Fallujah
Multimedia, 3 June 2016RUSI Research Fellow Michael Stephens gives his assessment on the Iraqi government's push to retake the strategically important city of Fallujah from Daesh militants.
Tags: RUSI International, Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
Blood Between Us: Psychological Occupation and Resistance in Mosul
RUSI Journal, 6 April 2018Michael Stevens
The resourceful resistance effort in Mosul provides useful lessons on how psychological operations can be effectively countered.
RUSI Journal, Iraq, Resilience
A New State in the Middle East? From the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to the Republic of Kurdistan
Briefing Papers, 19 September 2017Gareth Stansfield
The likely result of the upcoming referendum in the Kurdish areas of Iraq will create a dilemma for the Iraqi state and foreign powers.
Briefing Papers, Iraq, Defence Policy, Global Security Issues, Middle East and North Africa
New Emerging Trends to an Age-Old Challenge: Stable Governance in Northern Iraq
Conference Reports, 2 June 2017Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, Aaditya Dave, Gareth Stansfield and Stefan Wolff
Report from a roundtable looking at the challenges facing Iraq after Daesh, focusing especially on post-war identities and stable government in the north of the country.
Conference Reports, International Security Studies, Iraq, Global Security Issues, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
Challenges to Stabilisation in Iraq after the Mosul Operation
Conference Reports, 22 March 2017Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, Aaditya Dave, Gareth Stansfield and Stefan Wolff
Report from two roundtables convened to discuss the stabilisation in and challenges facing Iraq after the liberation of Mosul from the hands of Daesh.
Conference Reports, International Security Studies, Iraq, Global Security Issues, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
Planning and Fighting a War: The Iraq Inquiry's Judgements on the Armed Forces
RUSI Journal, 21 December 2016Michael Clarke
The Iraq Inquiry has shed light on Britain’s lack of strategic influence over its coalition partners.
Armed Forces, RUSI Journal, Iraq, Counterinsurgency, Defence Policy, UK, UK Defence, Europe, Middle East and North AfricaPages
The Iraq Election Results: What next for Iraq’s political stability?
Events, 16 May 2018This panel event, in partnership with the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) assessed the Iraqi election result, the early indications of any political realignment and possible impacts on the...
RUSI International, Iraq, Global Security Issues, Middle East and North Africa
A Conversation with Jaffar Hagi, Deputy Speaker of Kurdistan Parliament–Iraq
Events, 15 March 2018Since the referendum on Kurdish independence in September 2017 and the subsequent loss of territory to the Federal Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq has been placed in a...
RUSI International, Iraq, Global Security Issues, Middle East and North Africa
A Conversation with Dr Ibrahim al Jaafari, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Iraq
Events, 14 September 2016A briefing by Iraq’s Foreign Minister and Former Prime Minister, Dr Ibrahim al Jaafari.
International Security Studies, Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
The Chilcot Inquiry: Learning Lessons from Iraq
Events, 15 July 2016Exploring and assessing the findings of the Iraq Inquiry and what this means for UK defence and foreign policy making.
Armed Forces, Iraq, UK, UK Defence
Gallipoli Memorial Lecture - Afghanistan and Iraq: Understanding and Incorporating Lessons
Events, 4 June 2014Admiral Michael Mullen USN (Ret’d), former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, highlighted some of the initial difficult lessons from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Aerospace, Afghanistan, Iraq, Land Forces, Central and South Asia, Middle East and North Africa
"The death of his son potentially deprives him of an heir, according to Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI). He said the death could serve to inspire the group further, "and highlight how the many young cubs of the caliphate are useable as terrorist tools, something which people may have worried about. But such a clear leadership signal on this topic will bolster people's use of them as potential attackers"."
Isis leader Baghdadi's son killed in Syria, terror group claims
In The News, 4 July 2018 Tags: International Security Studies, Iraq, Counterinsurgency, Syria, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
"'Sometimes, the removal of a leader can cause a substantial degradation of a group, But in most cases, a leader’s death only speeds up the rise of even more radical successors,' said Pantucci"
Osama bin Laden still matters. Islamic State leader Baghdadi not so much.
In The News, 2 November 2017 Tags: International Security Studies, Iraq, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
""Control of water supplies gives strategic control over both cities and countryside ... It's life or death," Michael Stephens, a research fellow for Middle East studies at the Royal United Services Institute, told Al Jazeera. "If you control water in Iraq, you have a grip on Baghdad, and you can cause major problems.""
The waterkeeper of Iraq
In The News, 27 October 2017 Tags: RUSI International, Iraq, Global Security Issues, Resilience, Middle East and North Africa
"Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, told The Times: “From a government perspective, them dying out there is the easiest solution.” He accepted that although some schoolgirls might have been unaware of the dangers in Syria, anybody in their late teens upwards would have to be “exceptionally naive” not to realise they were making a “very bad life choice”."
Killing British jihadists ‘is only option’, says Rory Stewart
In The News, 23 October 2017 Tags: UK Counter-terrorism, International Security Studies, Iraq, Syria, UK, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
"Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said Isis was working hard on new ways to lure in new recruits without the promise of a utopian “Islamic State”. “They’ve lost territory and they’ve lost Raqqa, so there’s a less obvious ‘state’ for people who were going to come and join them,” he added. “But they have managed to spin an ideological narrative less bound to these realities, focusing on grievances and a supposed clash of civilisations.”"
UK terror attacks likely to increase despite Isis' defeat in Raqqa
In The News, 18 October 2017 Tags: UK Counter-terrorism, International Security Studies, Iraq, UK, Terrorism
Cracking Down on China’s Distant Water Fishing Fleet: What Impacts Closer to Home?
Stabilising Pakistan’s Relations with the Gulf
Vostok - 2018