Missing the long game: Washington’s high-risk energy diplomacy in Iraq

Washington’s foreign relations in the Middle East are often characterized by ebb and flow, tracking the region’s dynamic politics. But when it comes to Iraq, this ebb and flow is especially turbulent.

Events surrounding the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, at the beginning of the year have made clear Iraq’s fragile economic and geopolitical situation. Three years ago, Baghdad and Washington fought a fierce war against ISIS to combat the threat of international terrorism. Today, in the wake of the Soleimani assassination and its aftermath, this close relationship is now at risk of withering. In the foreground, Iraq’s energy sector has been thrown under the spotlight as Washington presses Baghdad to take swift action to ensure its “energy independence” from Iran.