Carnegie Middle East Center

Last August the Iraqi government decided to shut down the Mandali border crossing between Iraq and Iran in Diyala Governorate. In justifying the move, it described Mandali as an informal crossing that had been used for illicit trade and for the unauthorized movement of people and goods.   According to Iraqi media outlets, criminal organization… Read more

The Syrian city of Albukamal and the Iraqi city of Qaim along the Syrian-Iraqi border are separated by only a few hundred meters and have historically been linked by tribal and family ties. For decades the cities, like the border dividing them, have had strategic importance for Syria and Iraq, even as their role appears to have expanded today to ha… Read more

In April 2019, I went back to Yemen, my homeland, to witness firsthand how the ongoing war is affecting local communities. Upon reaching my first destination, the city of Marib, I was taken aback by the scale of change. The marginalized tribal area I once knew has become an epicenter in North Yemen.   Unlike its neighbors in the north, Marib h… Read more