The Iraqi capital, persevering through its past civil turmoil, political upheavals and military conflicts, embodies an unwavering resolve. Looming tributes to the past, like the Shaheed and Unknown Soldier Monuments, remind and inspire a city teeming with life. In fiercely preserved cultural icons, from the sacred Al-Jawadain Holy Shrine to Al Mutanabbi Street’s literary amassment, Baghdad’s vitality sustains as invariably as its ubiquitous afternoon games of chess and sweet tea.