A nation must think before it acts.
Denise Natali Joins FPRI’s Board of Advisors
The Foreign Policy Research Institute is pleased to announce that Dr. Denise Natali has joined its Board of Advisors. Dr. Natali is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of National Strategic Studies with a focus on the Middle East, Iraq, trans-border Kurdish issues, and post-conflict stabilization. She has authored numerous publications, op-eds, and short analyses on Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Kurds and countering ISIL, such as The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq and The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey and Iran.
Alan Luxenberg, President of FPRI, praised Dr. Natali’s unique qualifications and expertise, “Denise Natali stands out among U.S. based experts on Iraq because of the sheer amount of time she has spent on the ground in Northern Iraq and for her rare ability to bridge the academic-policy divide.”
In addition to her work and expertise on the subject, Dr. Natali has worked firsthand on post-conflict relief and stabilization. She served as the director of cross-border operations for an independent organization in Peshawar, Pakistan from 1989 to 1991. She was also a specialist for the American Red Cross Gulf Relief Crisis Project in Washington, D.C. and an information officer for the Disaster Assistance Relief Team, formed by U.S Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance in northern Iraq in support of Operation Provide Comfort II (1993-1994).
She is an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and a columnist for al-Monitor.
Dr. Natali received a Ph.D in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of International Affairs (MIA) at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a B.A. in government at Franklin & Marshall College. She has also studied at the L’Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris, the University of Tehran (Dehkhoda Language Program) and Tel Aviv University.