Iraq Will Not Get a Time-Out in 2025

Iraq is a developing democracy, but its location — between Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria — means that it always faces pressure from outside its borders.  The list of challenges it faced in 2024 ranged from ongoing security threats, including attacks on U.S. military bases by armed groups, political shifts and discussions about the presence of U.S. forces, and, perhaps above all, instability from the war in Gaza and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. To deal with these challenges, Prime Minister Mohammed…