Experts discuss what lessons the military learned during the Iraq war, and how the war in Iraq will influence future policy making.

Experts discuss what lessons the military learned during the Iraq war, and how the war in Iraq will influence future policy making.

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders on March 24, 2013, after traveling with President Barack Obama on his Middle East trip.

Concerning the United States' legacy in Iraq Meghan L. O'Sullivan writes, "Had Saddam not been removed, it is almost certain that we would still be facing a volatile and potentially even more dangerous Middle East."

According to Meghan L. O'Sullivan, "Given the several still-undetermined variables and the wide variety of plausible outcomes, it is too early to bring final judgment on American efforts in Iraq even 10 years on."

Meghan L. O'Sullivan reflects on the past decade of U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Trace the Iraq war campaign through ten CFR meetings that assembled some of the leading foreign policy analysts and news figures of the past decade.

Max Boot reflects on the tenth-anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

In the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, a resurgent al-Qaeda in Iraq, allied with jihadist fighters in neighboring Syria, constitutes a considerable threat to regional security, explains this Backgrounder.

Ed Husain writes that the ongoing Arab revolutions were inspired by "other, more direct developments," not the war in Iraq.

This guide provides expert analysis and background on some of the central issues facing Iraq ten years after the U.S.-led invasion.

The Bush administration's decision to wage war on Iraq in 2003 still looms large for its flaws and its damage to U.S. interests, says CFR President Richard Haass.

Iraq War Research Links provide news, analyses, government reports, history, costs, and more.

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Stuart Bowen produced this final report for Congress, released March 6, 2013. The report details how much money was spent and which programs it funded over the nine year reconstruction in Iraq, and seven lessons the United States can learn about stabilization and reconstruction efforts. Other quarterly reports to Congress and the legislation that created SIGIR are also available.

The government of Nouri al-Maliki faces a number of challenges in the coming year, including strong opposition from Sunnis, Kurds, and fellow Shiites, says CFR's Meghan O'Sullivan.

The mood in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk -- the three largest cities in Iraqi Kurdistan -- is newly buoyant these days, and with good reason.

Blake Clayton says Iraq is in a unique position to help take the edge off a global oil market under serious strain, but time will tell whether the country will achieve its lofty goals—or if they will remain a mirage.

Examining the decline of violence in Iraq at the end of 2007, Stephen Biddle, Jeffrey A. Friedman, and Jacob Shapiro argue, "A synergistic interaction between the surge and the [Sunni] Awakening was required for violence to drop as quickly and widely as it did: both were necessary; neither was sufficient."

In Newsweek, Leslie H. Gelb weaves surprising lessons on when to make war and peace from interviews with Ryan Crocker, former Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

Though violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since 2003, internal and regional dynamics threaten its stability. Douglas Ollivant, senior fellow at the New America Foundation, , argues that despite the U.S. military withdrawal, the United States has a significant stake in helping Iraq overcome threats of ethnosectarian violence and a breakdown of constitutional order.