![Hiwaraat_Iraq_Web_Banner_EN_2560x650_2-min[1]](https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/07/Hiwaraat_Iraq_Web_Banner_EN_2560x650_2-min1.jpg)
About the Conference
The 2003 invasion of Iraq marked a critical turning point in America’s relationship with Iraq and its neighboring countries, a region of strategic importance encompassing vital energy and military interests, and reshaped its diplomatic relations worldwide. This conference was convened by the Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar, Dr. Safwan Masri, in collaboration with the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS). Taking a regional perspective, this meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the many geopolitical and socioeconomic consequences of the conflict that continue to reverberate across the globe twenty years later.
Keynote Speaker
His Excellency Dr. Barham Salih
Former President of the Republic of Iraq
Dr. Barham Salih served as the eighth President of the Republic of Iraq from 2018-2022. In addition to serving as Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region from 2009-2012, Dr. Salih is also the founder of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani. A veteran Iraqi Kurdish politician with years of public service and leadership experience in both the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq, Dr. Salih recently published an expert analysis piece titled “20 Years After Liberation, Iraq Needs Root-and-Branch Reform.”
Program
The main objective of the conference was to bring together experts from the U.S., the Middle East, and other regions of the world to discuss the ways in which America’s invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq have shaped the U.S., MENA, and the world over the past twenty years. The conference focused on key geopolitical groupings of Iraq’s regional neighbors, and covered critical cross-cutting themes, including the emergence of Da’esh, women in post-invasion Iraq, issues of global governance, climate change, and natural resource management.
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Registration and Welcome Reception
5:30 – 6:15PM
Location: Al Mirqab Ballroom, Ground Floor
Opening Dinner Program
6:30 – 10PM
Location: Al Mirqab Ballroom, Ground Floor
Welcome Remarks
Zahra Babar (Center for International and Regional Studies, Georgetown University in Qatar)
Faculty Chair Dr. Edward Kolla (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Opening Remarks
Provost Robert Groves (Georgetown University)
Dean Safwan Masri (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Keynote Address
Dr. Barham Salih, former President of the Republic of Iraq
In Conversation with Dr. Barham Salih
Peter Harling (Synaps Network)
Opening Panel: The Iraq War and Global Diplomacy
Laila Al-Shaikhli, Moderator (Al Jazeera)
His Excellency Mr. Timmy Davis (Ambassador of the United States to the State of Qatar)
His Excellency Mr. Jonathan Wilks (Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the State of Qatar)
Closing Remarks
Dean Safwan Masri
Friday, September 15, 2023
Registration/Badge Collection
9AM – 1:30PM
Location: Hotel Lobby, Ground Floor
Breakfast with Ayman
9:45 – 11:15AM
Location: Al Daibel, Floor 1
Over breakfast, short interviews about current issues in Iraq with MSNBC news show host Ayman Mohyeldin
Segment 1: Covering Iraq: 20 Years On
Bassam Haddad (George Mason University)
Mina Al-Oraibi (The National, UAE)
Othman Al-Mukhtar (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed)
Segment 2: Iraqi Political Landscape
Laleh Khalili (Exeter University)
Rasha Al-Aqeedi (Independent Researcher)
Zeidon Alkinani (Arab Center Washington DC)
Segment 3: Youth and Activism in Iraq
Maha Yassin (Institute of Regional and International Studies)
Mohamed Noeman (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Prayer Time
11:15AM – 12PM
Reading and Discussion with the Author
12 – 1PM
Location: Al Mirqab Ballroom, Ground Floor
Dr. Irada Al-Jubori (University of Baghdad)
[in Arabic with live English translation]
Opening Plenary: Regional Security Perceptions Post-US Invasion of Iraq
1 – 2:45PM
Location: Al Mirqab Ballroom, Ground Floor
Karine Walther, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen (Rice University)
May Darwich (University of Birmingham)
Vali Nasr (Johns Hopkins University)
Break
2:45 – 3PM
Location: Floor 1, Open Area
Concurrent Session 1: In the Neighborhood
3 – 4:45PM
Panel 1: Iraq and its Neighbors: Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia
Location: Al Daibel 1, Floor 1
Mehran Kamrava, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Mina Al-Oraibi (The National, UAE)
Mohammed Al-Sudairi (Australian National University)
Fanar Haddad (University of Copenhagen)
Nasser Hadian (University of Tehran)
Ozden Zeynep Oktav (Istanbul Medeniyet University)
Panel 2: In the Neighborhood: Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine
Location: Al Daibel 2, Floor 1
Abdullah Al-Arian, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Peter Harling (Synaps Network)
Hiba Khodr (American University of Beirut)
Karim Makdisi (American University of Beirut)
Bassel Saloukh (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies)
Panel 3: The View from the Peninsula: Kuwait and Qatar
Location: Msaimeer, Floor 1
David Roberts, Chair (King’s College London)
Ghanim Alnajjar (Kuwait University)
Bader Al-Saif (Kuwait University)
Laleh Khalili (Exeter University)
Imad Mansour (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies)
Documentary Screening and Discussion
5 – 7PM
Location: Al Daibel 1, Floor 1
“Our Feelings Took the Pictures: Open Shutters Iraq” with Irada Al-Jubori (University of Baghdad)
[in Arabic with live English translation]
Reception
7 – 7:30PM
Location: Floor 1, Open Area
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Registration/Badge Collection
8AM – 3PM
Location: Ground Floor, Hotel Lobby
Concurrent Session 2: Beyond the Neighborhood
9 – 10:45AM
Panel 1: Arab Spring Connections: Tunisia, Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Syria
Location: Al Daibel 1, Floor 1
Rogaia Abusharaf, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Dean Safwan Masri (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Bassam Haddad (George Mason University)
Fanar Haddad (University of Copenhagen)
Samia Nakhoul (Thomson Reuters)
Panel 2: The View from Europe: European International Relations since the U.S. Invasion of Iraq
Location: Msaimeer, Floor 1
Gerd Nonneman, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Meltem Müftüler-Baç (Sabanci University)
H.E. Dr. Cristian Tudor (EU Ambassador to Qatar)
Panel 3: Russia and China: Calculations for a New Global Order
Location: Al Daibel 2, Floor 1
Si Liu, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Mohammed Al-Sudairi (Australian National University)
Jonathan Fulton (Zayed University)
Nikolay Kozhanov (Qatar University)
Samuel Ramani (University of Oxford)
Break
10:45 – 11AM
Location: Floor 1, Open Area
Concurrent Session 3: Transnational Issues
11AM – 12:45PM
Panel 1: The Emergence of Da’esh
Location: Al Daibel 1, Floor 1
Muhanad Seloom, Chair (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies)
Rasha Al-Aqeedi (Independent Researcher)
Othman Al-Mukhtar (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed)
Inna Rudolf (King’s College London)
Panel 2: Iraqi Women post-US Invasion
Location: Al Daibel 2, Floor 1
[in Arabic with live English translation]
Nadya Sbaiti, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Bushra Al-Obaidi (Al Rafidain University)
Zainab Saleh (Haverford College)
Ala Talabani (High Council for Iraqi Women)
Panel 3: Good Governance and Durable Solutions
Location: Msaimeer, Floor 1
Andrew Mills, Chair (Thomson Reuters)
Hassan Janabi (Ministry of Water Resources, Iraq)
Maha Yassin (Institute of Regional and International Studies)
Lunch
12:45 – 1:45PM
Location: Al Mirqab Ballroom, Ground Floor
Film screening, “About Baghdad” with Bassam Haddad (George Mason University)
1:45 – 2:30PM
Location: Al Daibel 1, Floor 1
Closing Plenary: U.S. Foreign Policy towards the Region: the Bush Presidency and Beyond
2:45 – 4:15PM
Location: Al Mirqab Ballroom, Ground Floor
Edward Kolla, Chair (Georgetown University in Qatar)
Juan Cole (University of Michigan)
Flynt L. Leverett (Pennsylvania State University)
Trita Parsi (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft)
Randa Slim (Middle East Institute)
Closing Remarks
4:15 – 4:45PM
Location: Al Mirqab Ballroom, Ground Floor
Dean Safwan Masri (Georgetown University in Qatar)