By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia
There is uncertainty in Iraq's Kurdish Region after President Barzani's independence gamble misfires.
On September 25, 2017 Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) held an independence referendum with the overwhelming majority voting in favour of independence. The referendum was organized despite strong opposition from neighbouring Turkey and Iran, as well as Iraq's central Government, which called it illegal. Iraqi Kurdistan's decision to hold the referendum also in disputed territories, including the oil rich city of Kirkuk that have been under Kurdish control after the Iraqi army abandoned those territories as a result of ISIS advancements, caused further irritation in Baghdad. READ MORE

• November 2, 2017

Low-cost airlines’ employment models could come under greater European Union scrutiny under a provision pushed by EU lawmakers concerned about their effect on aviation safety.

• October 29, 2017

Military relations between China and the United States are a positive force in ties, and China wants to deepen mutual trust and cooperation, China’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday ahead of a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump.

• October 26, 2017

Norwegian rescuers searched in vain on Thursday for a Russian helicopter missing at sea with eight people aboard off the coast of the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

• October 26, 2017

Cyber attacks using malware called “BadRabbit” hit Russia and other nations on Tuesday, affecting Russian Interfax news agency and causing flight delays at Ukraine’s Odessa airport.

• October 24, 2017

Russia cast a veto at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday preventing the renewal of the mandate for a mission that investigates the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

• October 24, 2017

Russia respects the desire of Iraqi Kurdistan to assert its identity but this must be done in dialogue with the Iraqi government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday at talks with his Iraqi government counterpart.

• October 23, 2017

A military option must remain on the table in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear program, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Monday, adding that nobody wants tensions in the Korean peninsula to be resolved in such a way.

• October 23, 2017