The United States should protect the Iraqi electoral process from anyone seeking to manipulate its outcome.

Bitterness in the congressional debate over U.S.policies in Iraq has reached a point of danger to this country and to its position of world leadership.

On January 30, Iraqis will head to the polls for their first free elections in half a century. But in many ways, the elections mark the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end. What can we expect next in Iraqi politics and the constitutional process? What...

The Bush administration needs to be aware of Islamic history as it works with Iraqis toforge democracy in their country.

Iraqi Kurdistan will always be weaker than Turkey and, to officials in Washington, it will always be less important than Turkey so long as Turkey remains in NATO. Still, the Kurdistan Regional Government can seize diplomatic initiative and perhaps protect its own people and force Turkey to moderate its actions, if only Kurdish leaders would play their hand more skillfully.

Here's what success in Iraq looks like: democratic elections, sectarian comity, independence in foreign policy, al Qaeda stymied, cooperating with the United States, and self sufficiency. Iraq didn't look completely like that in early 2011, but it was headed in the right direction.

This vision of relations will seem palatable to Americans and Iraqis who want to believe that all will be well after the withdrawal of U.S. troops. But the image is a mirage.

At this event, panelists discussed the implications of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections.