Is Three a Crowd? The Kurds, Baghdad and Poland

The Polish Institute of International Affairs is an analytical institution established by an act of Parliament in 1996 to carry out research and provide expertise in international affairs. PISM disseminates information on contemporary international issues and maintains contacts with academic and political centres in Poland and abroad. The Institute runs courses for public servants, maintains a library (open to the public; 165,000 books and journals), organises conferences, and publishes books, periodicals and documents on Polish foreign policy and international matters.

The funding for PISM comes from the budget. The director is appointed by the prime minister for a term of five years, following consultation with the minister of foreign affairs. The minister supervises the Institute and appoints its advisory council, which includes a representative of the President of the Republic of Poland, academics and officials.The diplomatic conflict that exists between the government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government impacts relations of both authorities at the international diplomatic level. As the case of Polish-Iraqi relations demonstrates, meaningful and effective involvement with the KRG is obstructed and sometimes impossible because of the ongoing Baghdad-Erbil conflict and the continuous possibility of the KRG seceding from Iraq. With the dynamics of Iraq changing post Maliki, it is important for these diplomatic relations to change accordingly, both internally and externally, in order to protect the territorial integrity of Iraq.