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Showing posts from May, 2026

The United Nations or the World Cup of Diplomacy and Artificial Intelligence?

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The UN as the world’s “World Cup of diplomacy,” its evolving role, and how AI is reshaping global diplomacy and international security. Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj A year ago, it looked like the United Nations was coming to an end. Funding was cut by the United States, it constantly appeared to be an ineffective institution, and there were fears that Donald Trump would withdraw the United States from the United Nations, which he founded and mainly funded. There was even talk that Trump's “peace board” could become an alternative or rival to the United Nations. But this week, as world leaders met again in New York, there was a new energy palpable. The first meeting on artificial intelligence in the history of the UN Security Council was held. Trump, although still as violent and threatening as ever, did what should be done at the United Nations: he used diplomacy. What has happened at the United Nations in recent days deserves careful attention and research. People talk a lot about how ineff...
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The Curse of Black Gold: Why Iraq's 150,000 Ancient Sites Attract Only 556 Western Tourists

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Iraq's Oil Curse Is Burying Mesopotamia By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 31 May 2026  Four thousand years after Mesopotamia gave birth to civilization, modern Iraq still cannot build the roads, hotels, and institutions needed to transform its archaeological wealth into economic and geopolitical influence. The problem is not war alone—it is an oil-dependent state that has never needed tourism to survive. Despite possessing 150,000 archaeological sites, including Ur, Babylon, Nimrud, and Hatra, Iraq remains a marginal destination for international tourism Yet the country had only 556 international visitors for its vast archaeological sites in 2024 according to a local report . This analysis examines how oil dependency, governance failures, conflict, and regional instability have prevented Iraq from transforming its ancient heritage into economic and geopolitical power. Iraq's tourism crisis is often explained through the destruction caused by war, sanctions, ...
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Iraq Secures Critical Food Lifeline as 44,000 Tons of U.S. Rice Arrive Amid Strait of Hormuz Crisis

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By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 31 May 2026  Despite escalating regional conflict, shipping disruptions, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq continues to safeguard food security through alternative trade routes, with a major U.S. rice shipment arriving via Jordan's Aqaba Port. A shipment carrying 44,000 tons of US rice designated for Iraq arrived at Jordan's Aqaba Port on Sunday despite shipping disruptions and maritime restrictions affecting regional trade routes, Iraq's Ministry of Trade stated. Lama Hashem Al-Moussawi, Director General of the State Company for Foodstuff Trading, noted that the company continues to implement its 2026 distribution plan for the food basket and social welfare programs, ensuring the uninterrupted supply of essential food items.  She added that “the company is closely monitoring shipping and unloading operations while coordinating with relevant authorities to ensure the timely delivery of supplies to warehouses a...
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A Blueprint for a Middle Eastern Metropolis: Erbil Unveils Visionary 2050 Master Plan

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By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 31 May 2026  Erbil has unveiled its ambitious 2050 Master Plan in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), outlining a vision for sustainable growth through green belts, rail networks, modern infrastructure, and unified urban planning standards designed to transform the Kurdistan Region's capital into a leading Middle Eastern metropolis. As Erbil eyes a transformative era of growth, the newly unveiled 2050 Master Plan, developed with JICA, sets a bold vision for the Kurdistan Region's capital. From a massive green belt and rail networks to unified architectural codes, the plan prioritizes sustainability and urban harmony. In the corridors of the Erbil Directorate of Urban Planning and Reconstruction, a quiet revolution is being mapped out. Spread across tables and digital screens are the blueprints for a city that, by the middle of this century, intends to stand as a model of modern, sustainable, a...
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The Kurdish Highlands Boom: Rawanduz Unveils a Mega-Tourism Vision Centered on an 11-Kilometer Cable Car

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  With more than two million annual visitors and ambitious plans for hiking routes, cultural preservation, and one of the region’s longest cable car systems, Rawanduz is positioning itself as the future tourism capital of the Kurdistan Region. By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 31 May 2026  The tourism director of Rawanduz has unveiled an ambitious Norwegian-designed masterplan that includes a record-length cable car, hiking trails, and a cultural museum Suspended above ancient gorges and glacier-carved ridgelines, a proposed cable car stretching 11 kilometers could soon connect some of the most spectacular terrain in the Kurdistan Region, from the storied Ali Beg valley all the way to the summit of Korek Mountain. The vision was outlined on Friday, by Pariz Yusuf, director of tourism for Rawanduz, in a wide-ranging disclosure of the district's development roadmap according to a local report by Kurdistan 24.  The plan, he said, is part of a comprehensive m...
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ISIS Could Rise Again: New U.S. Report Warns Syria’s Shifting Alliances Are Creating a Dangerous Security Vacuum

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By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 31 May 2026  As regional alliances evolve and military priorities shift, a U.S. oversight report warns that ISIS may be positioning itself for a renewed insurgency across Syria and beyond. The 44th Lead Inspector General report on Operation Inherent Resolve warns of a heightened risk of ISIS resurgence following the collapse of security frameworks in Syria and escalating militia threats in Iraq. As U.S. forces realign, the report highlights critical gaps in regional stability. A comprehensive new oversight report submitted to the U.S. Congress warns that the risk of an ISIS resurgence has intensified significantly across the Middle East, fueled by a volatile mixture of shifting political alliances, large-scale prison escapes, and a deteriorating security environment in both Syria and Iraq. The 44th quarterly report from the Lead Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), covering the period from January 1 to March 31,...
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The Gulf’s strategic chokepoint crisis | Kurdish Policy Analysis

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  Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran face a widening struggle over pipelines, Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, reshaping Gulf geopolitics and energy security. The Middle East is entering a more dangerous phase of the Iran–Gulf confrontation in which the central strategic issue is no longer simply the exchange of missiles and drones, but the control of the region’s energy and maritime arteries . In the space of days, Saudi Arabia has faced attacks launched from Iraqi territory against its East-West oil pipeline, Qatar has publicly backed Riyadh’s restraint, Iran and the Gulf states are preparing another diplomatic effort in Oman, and Iran-aligned Houthi forces have seized strategically important territory around the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Taken together, these developments reveal an emerging regional contest over whether energy can continue to move through the Gulf and Red Sea despite the wider war. The most consequential development for Iraq and the Gulf is the reported drone a...
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Iraq’s Minorities Are Not Just a Humanitarian Issue — They Are a Test of the State

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Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Iraq’s minority question is often presented primarily as a humanitarian concern: communities displaced by war, religious sites destroyed, families unable to return home and survivors requiring assistance. That framing is understandable, but it is incomplete. Iraq’s experience since 2003 demonstrates that the survival of minority communities is inseparable from the country’s unresolved problems of governance, political representation, territorial competition and fragmented security. The central problem is therefore not simply that Iraq’s minorities have suffered repeated waves of violence. It is that the Iraqi state has repeatedly struggled to create political and security arrangements capable of protecting communities whose territories sit at the intersection of competing national, sectarian and geopolitical interests. The consequences are particularly visible in Nineveh, Sinjar and the wider disputed territories, where Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG...
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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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