Mokhtar Nouri

   Abstract The growing importance of transit corridors in the restructuring of supply chains and geoeconomic competition has transformed Iraq’s “Development Road” project from merely a tra  ortation initiative into an issue closely associated with economic development, geoeconomic power, and regional security. The significance of this study stems from the fact that, on the one hand, Iraq seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy and enhance its position within regional networks by leveraging its geographical location between the Persian Gulf and Türkiye; on the other hand, achieving this objective is constrained by institutional, financial, political, security, and corridor-competition challenges.The main objective of this research is to provide a geopolitical analysis of Iraq’s Development Road and explain how it may affect Iraq’s geopolitical and geoeconomic position within the context of Middle Eastern corridor competition, with particular emphasis on the project’s developmental objectives and the political-security challenges affecting its implementation. Accordingly, the main research question is: “What developmental and geoeconomic objectives does Iraq’s Development Road pursue, and how can it affect Iraq’s geopolitical and geoeconomic position under the influence of political-security challenges and Middle Eastern corridor competition?” The main hypothesis is based on the assumption that, through the Development Road, Iraq seeks to transform its geographical position into a geoeconomic advantage, diversify its economy, expand its transit and logistics capacities, attract investment, and enhance its regional position. However, the extent to which these objectives are achieved depends on the Iraqi government’s institutional and implementation capacity, sustainable financing, the stability and security of the route, and Baghdad’s ability to manage corridor competition and the divergent interests of regional and extra-regional actors. In terms of purpose, this research is applied, while in terms of nature and methodology, it is descriptive-analytical. Data were collected through library and documentary research using Persian, Arabic, and English academic sources, official documents and reports, and studies published by research institutions. The theoretical framework combines the geoeconomic approach, the concept of securitization from the Copenhagen School, and Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT), thereby enabling an integrated analysis of the relationship between infrastructure, economic power, security perceptions, and the regional environment. The findings indicate that the Development Road has the potential to transform Iraq’s geographical position into a geoeconomic advantage, develop non-oil revenues, strengthen logistics and industrial activities, and increase Iraq’s role in regional networks. However, this potential is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Weak governance and institutional coordination, financing problems, disputes between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, the activities of armed groups, insecurity along parts of the route, and logistical limitations are among the most significant obstacles to the project’s realization.Furthermore, the relationship between the Development Road and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), is not characterized solely by exclusionary competition; rather, it reflects a combination of competition, overlap, and the possibility of complementarity. Overall, the main hypothesis is conditionally supported. The study concludes that the Development Road represents a “strategic but conditional capacity”

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed the ways in which power resources are generated, organized, and employed within the international system, making technological capabilities an increasingly significant determinant of states’ national power. This study aims primarily to explain and analyze the impact of artificial intelligence on the components of Iraq’s national power and to identify the opportunities and challenges arising from the development and application of this technology in strengthening the country’s national capacities during the period from 2017 to 2026.The main research question is: How does artificial intelligence affect the components of Iraq’s national power, and what are the most significant opportunities and challenges associated with it? The central hypothesis posits that the targeted development and application of artificial intelligence can strengthen Iraq’s national power by enhancing its economic-technological, military-security, political-governance, and diplomatic-soft power capacities. However, the realization of this potential depends on digital and technological infrastructure, human capital, institutional capacity and the quality of governance, legal and regulatory frameworks, investment in science and technology, the degree of technological dependence, and the quality of international cooperation.The theoretical framework of the study is primarily grounded in classical realism and Hans Morgenthau’s theory of national power, while Joseph Nye’s concepts of soft power and smart power serve as a complementary framework. The study adopts a qualitative, descriptive-analytical research approach. Data are collected through library and documentary research and examined using qualitative and thematic analysis.The findings indicate that the impact of artificial intelligence on Iraq’s national power is neither direct nor automatic; rather, it is multidimensional and conditional. In the economic-technological dimension, the main identified opportunities include increased productivity, improved management of energy and water resources, development of the digital economy, and enhanced innovation. In the military-security dimension, they include improved intelligence analysis, threat prediction, cybersecurity, and crisis management. In the political-governance dimension, the principal opportunities involve data-driven decision-making, improved public services, greater tra  arency, and enhanced state implementation capacity. In the diplomatic-soft power dimension, the key opportunities include the development of digital diplomacy, public opinion analysis, management of Iraq’s international image, and the expansion of scientific and technological cooperation.Conversely, inadequate infrastructure and human capital, institutional and data fragmentation, shortcomings in legal and regulatory frameworks, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and technological dependence constitute some of the most significant challenges.Overall, the study finds that the central hypothesis receives analytical support and concludes that Iraq’s fundamental challenge lies not merely in gaining access to artificial intelligence, but rather in developing the capacity to absorb, organize, localize, and responsibly utilize AI in order to transform technological potential into effective national power.

   Adolescents, considering that they are the future builders of society and on the other hand, because they are at a sensitive age biologically, require more attention than ever. Considering the increase in non-suicidal self-injury behaviors among adolescents, which sometimes lead to serious physical injuries; studying and researching the causes of these behaviors, predictive factors, correlated factors, and treatment of these behaviors is of great importance. In this regard, the aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and spontaneous thoughts with non-suicidal self-injury behaviors in adolescents in Kermanshah city through the mediation of emotion regulation. This study is quantitative and, given its purpose, is 0.035 and p < 0.05) and non-suicidal self-injurious behavior (r = 0.048 and p < 0.05). In the variable of parenting style, the schemas (abandonment, failure, vulnerability, undeveloped self (trapped), emotional inhibition, strict criteria, deficiency/shame, negativity, dependency, distrust, and punishment) are directly related to difficulty in emotion regulation (r > 0 and p < 0.05). In the parenting style variable; schemas (emotional deprivation, obedience, sacrifice, entitlement, acceptance seeking and self-control) have an inverse relationship with difficulty in regulating emotions (r < 0 and p < 0.05). Also, schemas (schemas of abandonment, failure, vulnerability, undeveloped self (trapped), obedience, emotional inhibition, strict criteria, negativity, dependence, distrust and punishment) have a direct relationship with the variable of non-suicidal self-injurious behavior (r > 0 and p < 0.05). And schemas (emotional deprivation, deficiency/shame, sacrifice, entitlement, acceptance seeking and self-control) have a direct relationship with the variable of non-suicidal self-injurious behavior (r < 0 and p < 0.05). However, the schemas of the parenting style variable do not have a correlation with the variable of negative self-destructive thoughts. Based on the findings of the present study, attention to emotion regulation skills and negative automatic thoughts, as well as considering parenting styles, can play an important role in reducing non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors in adolescents. The conceptual model of the study had a good fit.