By Jon Queally | Agencies | 04 May 2013

“It is wrong to say [Iraq is] getting close to a civil war... The civil war has already started.”

That's what one Iraqi politician tells the Independent's Patrick Cockburn as the British foreign correspondent explores the undercurrents of growing violence and political conflict in the country still reeling and destabilized from more than a decade of war and an entire generation beset by Western sanctions, military intervention, and occupation.

By Eman El-Shenawi / 15 Mar 2013

Amid killings, international condemnation and aggressive politics, Syria’s macro-economic concerns may not be at the forefront of people’s minds. However, the country is facing harsh economic realities, despite the lack of official information.

Repairing the damage caused by two years of fighting could cost up to $80 billion, says Abdullah al-Dardari, former deputy premier for economic affairs under President Bashar al-Assad. This figure has caused shockwaves, amid warning signs in recent months of a looming fiscal collapse.