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The Kurdish Referendum: Between Defeat and Achievement

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  Nine years after Kurdistan’s 2017 referendum, its political, economic and strategic consequences remain deeply contested. Nine years after the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum, debate over the referendum and its consequences for the Kurdistan Region continues. Supporters regard it as a historic achievement, while its opponents see it as a factor that weakened the Region’s position within the framework of Iraq. On September 25, 2017, the referendum process was held in the Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories. At the time, the authorities of the Kurdistan Region claimed that the process was intended to pave the way for “independence” and “separation” from Iraq. However, less than a month later, the political balance shifted dramatically against the Region. When the referendum was held in the Kurdistan Region, most political parties and factions supported the process. However, less than a month later, when the Iraqi military operation against the disputed territor...
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The Oman-Iran Hormuz Corridor Could Institutionalize Tehran’s Maritime Leverage

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    Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj The Oman-Iran Hormuz corridor could restore shipping while creating a new strategic question: will it institutionalize Tehran's maritime leverage? The emerging Oman-Iran arrangement for the Strait of Hormuz should not be judged simply by whether it gets ships moving again. In the immediate term, a temporary navigational corridor, mine-clearance operations, information exchange, and coordinated traffic management could provide precisely what commercial shipping needs after months of disruption. But the strategic significance of the proposal lies in the transition from an emergency corridor to a permanent mechanism for the “future administration” of the strait. That phrase transforms the issue from maritime safety into a contest over political authority. The central question is therefore not whether the corridor can reopen Hormuz, but whether the mechanism created to reopen it eventually gives Iran a durable role in determining the conditions under which i...
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Oman Draws a Red Line: Why Muscat’s Defiance Signals a New Gulf Geopolitical Shift

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  The Quiet Sultanate Is No Longer Staying Quiet By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan — 29 May 2026  Oman’s rejection of U.S. pressure over Iran signals a major geopolitical shift in the Gulf, highlighting the decline of American dominance and the rise of independent regional diplomacy. For decades, Oman cultivated an image as the Middle East’s ultimate neutral mediator — a Gulf state that avoided ideological wars, balanced relations between rivals, and quietly hosted diplomacy when others escalated conflict. But Muscat’s latest response to pressure from Donald Trump marks a striking geopolitical shift. After reports of American pressure and threats linked to regional tensions with Iran , Omani officials publicly rejected what they described as “bullying” and intimidation tactics from Washington. The language was unusually sharp for a state known for caution, restraint, and diplomatic subtlety. The message was unmistakable: Oman will not sacrifice its independ...
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From Erbil to the World: What Rudaw’s Guinness Record Says About Kurdish Soft Power

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Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj A Kurdish media organization has just produced a digital result that deserves to be understood as more than a communications milestone. On September 14, 2026, Rudaw Media Network announced that its digital platform had entered Guinness World Records after a Rudaw fact-checking video generated 284,007,601 views on Facebook within a 24-hour period. According to Rudaw, the video , published on July 24, 2026, became the most-viewed Facebook video within a 24-hour window globally and subsequently ranked among Facebook's most-watched videos overall. Rudaw has described the achievement as a milestone for Kurdish digital media and as evidence that professional journalism produced in the Kurdistan Region can reach audiences far beyond its immediate geographical constituency. The significance of the achievement, however, is not adequately captured by the number 284 million. In geopolitical terms, the more important question is what happens when an institution based in E...
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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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