Iraq will participate in a major regional conference in Saudi Arabia starting on July 15 along with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, Egypt, and Jordan. US President Joe Biden is also expected to attend the gathering as a part of his first regional tour since taking office last year. The upcoming summit in Jeddah has drawn comparisons with last year’s Baghdad Conference, which gathered regional leaders and was billed as an opportunity to improve relations between rival states. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has remained active since then, visiting both Saudi Arabia and Iran last month. But his role at the Jeddah conference is less clear—as is what Iraq can achieve for itself.

GCC avoiding Iraq’s political crisis

The summit in Saudi Arabia comes at a sensitive time for Iraq, which has yet to form a new government nine months after its parliamentary elections. Some observers who spoke to Amwaj.media worry that the Jeddah conference will fail to address the ongoing Iraqi political impasse...