NAMO ABDULLA
Fukuyama's Future of History
We all know Fukuyama for his famous 1989 article, which described the “end of history.” The article, which was published as a book later, argued liberal democracy may constitute the “end point of mankind’s ideological evolution” and the “final form of human government.”
Journalism Without Anthony Shadid!
The first time I met him was at the Safeer Hotel in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan where giant oil fields had been discovered, allowing the region to flourish like nowhere else in Iraq. He was accompanied by Ayman Oghanaa, a photographer, and Duraid Adnan, a Baghdad-based reporter for the Times. Since I had previously known both of them, we shook hands and hugged each other. Then, I found myself standing in front of Shadid, who introduced himself just like an unknown, ordinary person. “I’m Anthony,” he said. I looked at him for a bit, saying, “You think I don’t know you?” He laughed....
America’s Diminished Influence in Iraq
Nobody is ready to suggest that Iraq is no longer an important part of the Middle East, an increasingly tumultuous and interesting region of the world. It therefore seems that there is little choice but to accept the fact that the U.S. is fast on the track of failure in Iraq, an issue about which American voters are too apathetic to care....
The US And The New Muslim World
In the new Muslim order, even the world’s big powers find it in their interest to divide Shiism and Sunnism. The Shiite group is made up of countries such as Iraq, Iran, Lebanon (and potentially Bahrain) and supported by Russia and China, as two superpowers. The Sunni group is made up of the Sunni-dominated countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Libya (and potentially Syria) and is supported by the US and its allies. Turkey, as a regional Sunni powerhouse, is a key player in this group too. ...
A Lesson from the US Congress for Kurdistan’s Parliament
In brief, Kurdistan’s lawmakers need to learn from the US Congress that they are elected by the people and, therefore, required to be independent-minded in matters concerning the national interest. This does not necessarily force them to oppose the interest of their own political parties; they merely need to know that their parties’ interests can be more than what the party’s leadership decides behind the closed doors....
The American Lens on Iraq’s Sunni-Shiite Relations
The Arabs and Kurds share a long, bloody history that dates back to the establishment of the modern Iraqi state in early 1920s. This conflict continues until now, when the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi central government in Baghdad remain at loggerheads over oil-rich disputed territories in the north....
Kurdish Nationalism and American Pizza
Originally from Halabja, a town where Saddam Hussein’s government used chemical gas in 1988, Umed Ali is the owner of the small pizzeria. As a man who has lost many neighbors and relatives to the Kurdish cause, it was understandable why Ali revered the flag, which has officially only flown in Iraq’s north where the Kurds have for two decades enjoyed self-rule....
A Night in Times Square
It was around 8 p.m. when I arrived in Times Square to see people shoving and pushing to get closer to the sight of the ball dropping in four hours. Not long after I came out of the subway, parts of which were again closed by the police, it was clear that I would not be a witness to it. But missing the ball dropping here didn’t actually sadden me as it would have in Kurdistan, because for me the Big Apple now means having options more than anything else....
A Journey to Washington DC
Despite the fact that America has some enemies of its own, no one stopped me from taking photos in front of the White House, a place where I saw fewer guards than around the house of low-ranking Iraqi officials. With a Kurdish friend of mine, who is also pursuing a master’s degree in America, I took many photos in front of the Congress, the White House and posted them on Facebook later on. ...
Author info
NAMO ABDULLA
Namo Abdulla has been working as a freelance journalist and editor in the Iraqi Kurdistan region since 2006. His writings have appeared in top Kurdish, Iraqi and International media outlets including the New York Times, Reuters and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. He has one year of experience in television reporting.
He served as editor-in-chief of the English version of the Rudaw.net for ten months (June 2010-April 2011).