Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom

About the author

Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom is the Senior Vice President of the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum and a writer with a focus on international affairs and security policy. He is currently pursuing graduate studies at the University of Cambridge where he is researching Swedish nuclear weapons policy during the Cold War.

US occupies Syrian oil fields as a foreign policy maneuver

Despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to end “forever wars” by withdrawing troops from Syria, the U.S. has in fact taken over oil fields in the country. By doing this, Washington is further entrenching itself in the eight-year-long war as well as setting itself up for long term confrontation with regional actors. Ostensibly, the U.S. presence […]

Future US-Iraqi relations uncertain as Baghdad is gripped by protests

In recent weeks, and as discontent has been rising throughout the country, tens of thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets of Baghdad to demonstrate. During the past two years, since Iraq’s declaration of victory against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, institutional problems have resulted in large scale protests. Like in Lebanon, […]