Ambassador Ryan Crocker,
Chair of the Task Force of Iraq
Ryan Crocker is Dean and Executive Professor at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, where he holds the Edward and Howard Kruse Endowed Chair. He retired from the Foreign Service in April 2009 after a career of over 37 years but was recalled to active duty by President Obama to serve as US Ambassador to Afghanistan in 2011. He has served as US Ambassador six times: in Afghanistan, Iraq Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon.
Ahmed Ali
Ahmed Ali is Director of the Iraq Security and Humanitarian Monitor at the Education for Peace in Iraq Center and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Regional and International Studies at the American University of Iraq–Sulaimani.
Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero
Michael Barbero served in Iraq as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Operations at Multi-National Force–Iraq during “the surge” in 2007 and 2008, alongside General David Petraeus.
Ben Connable
Ben Connable is a retired Marine Corps intelligence officer and a Senior International Policy Analyst at RAND Corporation with a focus on irregular warfare.
Toby Dodge
Toby Dodge is Director of the Middle East Centre at The London School of Economics and Political Science, a professor of international relations, and author of Iraq: From War to a New Authoritarianism.
Sarhang Hamasaeed
Sarhang Hamasaeed is Director of Middle East Programs at the United States Institute of Peace where he has led long-term efforts to build a foundation for post-conflict reconciliation in the country.
Kawa Hassan
Kawa Hassan is Director of MENA Program at EastWest Institute, Brussels, where he leads track two initiatives focused on countering violent extremism. He is an expert on Kurdish and Iraqi politics, civil society and democratization, donor assistance, and transition processes, especially in the Middle East.
Sajad Jiyad
Sajad Jiyad is Managing Director of the Bayan Center for Planning and Studies, a Baghdad-based think tank.
Dr. Ra’ad Al-Kadiri
Dr. Ra’ad Al-Kadiri is Managing Director for Petroleum Sector Risk at IHS Energy. Al-Kadiri previously served as a policy advisor and Assistant Private Secretary to the UK Special Representatives to Iraq (2003-04) and as a senior policy advisor to Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Baghdad from 2006 to 2007. Al-Kadiri’s degrees include an MPhil and an MA from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and a Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations from St. Antony’s College at Oxford University.
Nibras Kazimi
Nibras Kazimi is a Visiting Scholar at the Hudson Institute and author of the incisive blog on Iraq politics, originally titled ‘Talisman Gate’, and re-launched as ‘Talisman Gate, Again’.
Dr. Michael Knights
Michael Knights is a Lafer Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a globally recognized expert on Iraqi military affairs, a subject on which he has worked intensively for over a decade.
Denise Natali
Denise Natali is Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and author of numerous publications on Kurdish politics, economy, and energy.
Dr. Douglas Ollivant
Douglas Ollivant is former Director of Iraq for the National Security Council, a role he served in both the Bush and Obama administrations, and he was a leading figure in the construction of a counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq.
Dr. Kenneth Pollack
Kenneth Pollack is a Senior Fellow at Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and former Director for Persian Gulf Affairs at the National Security Council.
Dr. Harith al-Qarawee
Harith al-Qarawee is a political scientist whose research focuses on state-society relations, political transitions, and identity politics in Iraq and the Middle East, and has worked as a political commentator and consultant, contributing to several research centers and outlets.
Hussain Qaragholi
Hussain Qaragholi is an investment banker focused on Iraq and the Northern Gulf. He was part of the core team that successfully restructured the 22 billion USD Saddam-era commercial claims. Hussain was Honorary Economic Advisor to the Governor of Basrah. He is on the board of the RAND Corporation’ Centre for Middle East Public Policy.
Nathaniel Rabkin
Nathaniel Rabkin is Managing Editor of Inside Iraqi Politics. He worked in Iraq for twenty-one months during the 2008 to 2011 period, first as a translator and interpreter for the US military, and later as a Human Terrain Analyst for the Pentagon. He has an MA in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Haifa.
Professor Gareth Stansfield
Gareth Stansfield is Professor of Middle East Politics and Chair of Arab Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter, and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. He is one of the world’s leading experts on Iraqi Kurdistan.
Christine Van Den Toorn
Christine Van Den Toorn is Director of the Institute for Regional and International Studies at the American University of Iraq–Sulaimani, and a specialist in Iraq’s disputed territories.
Nils Wörmer
Nils Wörmer is a retired Captain in the German Federal Armed Forces and a former Senior Associate of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Since September 2015, Wörmer heads the Syria/Iraq Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation.
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