Task Force Members
Crocker Ryan

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.

Ali Ahmed

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.
Barbero Michael

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.
Connable Ben

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.
Dodge Toby

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.
Hamasaeed Sarhang

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 2

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.
Jiyad Sajad

Sajad Jiyad

Sajad Jiyad is Managing Director of the Bayan Center for Planning and Studies, a Baghdad-based think tank.
Raad-Al-Kadrid

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.
Kazimi Nibras

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’.

Knights Michael

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.
Natali Denise

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.
Ollivant Dougls

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.

Pollack Kenneth

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.
Harith al-Qarawee2

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.
Qaragholi Hussain

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.
Rabkin Nathaniel2

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.

Rayburn Joel

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.

Toorn Christine

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.
Nils3

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.