Maritime Security

The Iraqi navy will have a daunting task of protecting Iraq’s export outlets in the Gulf and securing Iraq’s territorial waters and the tankers routes once the US military wraps up its mission and hands over security responsibilities to the Iraqi side by the end of December 2011. But that won’t be the end. Just as neighboring countries benefit from the presence and the might of the US navy in…

Thamir Al-Ghadhban

Thamir al-Ghadhban, former Iraqi Minister of Oil and Chairman of the Advisory Commission at the Prime Minister’s office, gives his take on the latest developments in Iraq’s oil sector and analyses future trends in an interview in Baghdad with Ruba Husari. Q: How do you expect a new government following the March 7 legislative elections to deal with the signed contracts? Is there a risk that the legality of those…

A Mis-match of Infrastructure?

Issam al-Chalabi writes: “Iraq is a landlocked country with a narrow opening to the Gulf. That by itself has been the cause of many conflicts with neighbouring Iran and Kuwait, meaning that, in addition to utilizing its Gulf outlet, Iraq must send oil through other neighboring countries to provide additional and alternative export outlets. This again has been a source of political conflicts and confrontations ever since the commercial discovery…