Oil wasn’t the conspiracy behind the Iraq War, but it was always in the mix.
John Howard confirms the nation’s involvement in the war in Iraq in March 2003, a decision subject to remarkably little oversight by comparison to Australia’s allies.
AAP/Alan Porritt
It is important to restore public trust in any future decision for Australia to go to war. For this, a system that provides better democratic accountability is essential.
The Iraq Inquiry has found that the case for invading Iraq was far from watertight and made without proper care. Deception, however, is another matter.
Too many people still believe that Iraq collapsed because there was no plan for it; others think the West has learnt from its mistakes. Wrong and wrong.
Five years ago, young people in the Middle East and North Africa led a major uprising with hopes for a better life. A University of Texas labor market expert explains why little has changed.
OPEC has been declared dead in recent months as the group of oil-exporters has been unable to agree on a plan to stabilize the market. But was it really ever alive in the first place?
Obama’s military strategy in Iraq and Syria hasn’t defeated the Islamic State, but it isn’t a total failure either. A retired major general and law professor looks at the successes and shortcomings.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement was the result of secret deliberations between British civil servant Mark Sykes and French diplomat François Georges-Picot.
Wikimedia Commons
The Sykes-Picot Agreement created the modern Middle East. It represents one of the first installments in a long line of modern European – and subsequent American – meddling in the region.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement divided up the Asiatic provinces of the Ottoman Empire into zones of direct and indirect British and French control.
By Royal Geographical Society via Wikimedia Commons
Senior Associate Fellow on the Middle East at RUSI; Associate Professor in Politics & International Relations; Deputy Director of the Centre on US Politics, UCL