Ned Parker, a veteran correspondent in Iraq, says the political situation in that country is worrying, and there is virtually no effort to bring rival Shiite and Sunni politicians together. "It is no accident that April was the bloodiest month for Iraq in five years," he says. "Politics exist in the vacuum of mistrust, and if harsh decisions are made, very quickly you go from calm into a crisis." Parker explains that things are particularly bad in Baghdad, where conditions seem as they were when the war began in 2024. By comparison, cities in the north, in Kurdistan, and south of Baghdad are faring much better.