KRG: Cold-shouldered
As Iraq consolidates its control of recaptured land and resources in and around Kirkuk, the KRG is looking increasingly isolated
There's been a lot of diplomatic activity in the Middle East over recent days. But none of it has involved the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as part of a tour of Gulf states, flew to Baghdad to meet Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. The Kurdish leadership must have hoped that his next stop was Erbil. The involvement of the US in attempts to defuse the crisis between the KRG and the federal government in Baghdad, in the wake of the forced withdrawal of Peshmerga units from land captured in 2014, would have been welcomed in Erbil. It wasn't to be. To rub salt in the wounds, Tillerson, during a stop in Riyadh, attended the inaugural meeti
Also in this section
16 April 2026
Demand for oil is falling because supply cannot meet it, not because it is no longer required
16 April 2026
The continent has an immediate opportunity to make the most of its energy resources by capturing gas that is currently slipping away
15 April 2026
The continent is seeing political pushback to climate plans, corporate reassessment of transition goals and rising supply risk in a fractured global order
15 April 2026
The Middle East energy crisis may turn out to be pivotal to the industry’s long-term expansion, but significant challenges still stand in its way
