Dr. Massaab Al-Aloosy is a researcher focusing on Iraq, Iran, and Shia non-state armed groups. He holds a PhD from the Fletcher School-Tufts University and is the author of The Changing Ideology of Hezbollah, Palgrave 2020.
Iraq’s Absent Political Opposition
Politics & GovernanceAs a general rule, most nations are stronger and more stable when they have a...
Taliban Afghanistan: A Double-Edged Victory for Iran
Defense & SecurityMany Iranian officials celebrated the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as a momentous strategic victory. One...
The Regional Contest Over Iraq’s Electricity
GeopoliticsIraq has remained a contested geopolitical arena since the 2003 invasion. As Iran’s primacy in...
Biden in Jeddah: Pursuing U.S.-Saudi-Israeli Alignment
U.S. – Gulf PolicyPresident Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East, and more specifically Saudi Arabia, has put...
Iran: Winning Abroad While Losing at Home
GeopoliticsSince the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s foreign policy has relied on supporting allied and proxy...
Iraq’s Perennial Electricity Problem and its Implications for Social Stab...
SocietyThe growing social unrest we see in Iraq today can be directly linked to the...
The Iran Nuclear Deal and World Energy Markets
Energy PolicyThe revival of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the “P5+1” powers, if all...
Latent Potential of the Iraqi Energy Sector
Energy PolicyIraq is one of the most important countries in terms of oil reserves and production,...
Neither Elections nor Nuclear Negotiations Will Change Iran’s Influen...
Defense & SecurityThe results of Iraq’s recent election and the government formation negotiations that have followed pose...
Rethinking Ayatollah al-Sistani’s Power in Iraq
Politics & GovernanceFor better or worse, one cannot overstate the role of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a...
Ugly Realities of Iraqi Democracy: Interference, Voting Irregularities, and...
As Iraq wrapped up its 5th parliamentary election since the 2003 invasion, certain mainstays of...
Iran’s Proxies and Iraq’s Parliamentary Elections: Ideological Rhetoric...
Politics & GovernanceLacking demonstrable political or economic achievements, Iranian proxies in Iraq—both the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)...