Iraq: Where Do We Go from Here?

• May 18, 2017

Iraq has been at the center of American foreign policy for over a quarter-century. Will it continue to dominate our attention and resources in the coming years as well? If so, how? Just as importantly, why? To answer these questions, we bring together two experts who have had some of the most unique and consequential experiences in Iraq over the past two decades.

Denise Natali has spent more time in Iraqi Kurdistan than almost any other U.S.-based expert and is a leading authority on Iraq’s political economy. Natali is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) where she specializes on the Middle East, Iraq, trans-border Kurdish issues, and post-conflict stabilization.

Nada Bakos was an analyst for the CIA and served as the agency’s Chief Targeting Officer. Bakos is a highly-regarded national security expert with 20 years of in-depth knowledge in global intelligence. As CIA analyst, she was a key member of the team charged with analyzing the relationship between Iraq, al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks.

FPRI’s Robert A. Fox Fellow Samuel Helfont will lead this exciting conversation. Helfont has worked on Iraq in various capacities inside and outside government, and he has spent years digging through the archives of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party.