Elections in Iraq: What Prospects for Change?
In the run up to the Iraqi elections later this month, leading Iraqi affairs specialists will discuss the implications of the vote and the challenges facing Iraq in the coming months in a panel cosponsored by CGS and the Iraqi American Alliance.
Dr. Reuben Brigety of GMU's Department of Public and International Affairs will moderate a panel comprised of Dr. Phebe Marr, Dr. Ala Fa'ik, and Dr. Anas Shallal. 26 January at 6:30 pm in Dewberry Hall. This free event is open to the public.
Panelist Biographies
Dr Reuben E. Brigety, II is an Assistant Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University researching civilian protections in armed conflict & international humanitarian assistance, and the law & ethics of warfare. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Brigety has served on research missions in Afghanistan and Iraq for the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and was an active duty U.S. naval officer. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and received his Ph.D. in international relations from Cambridge University.
Dr. Phebe Marr is a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute
of Peace and the author of The
Modern History of Iraq. She recently returned from
a research trip to Northern Iraq, where she was studying Iraq's
possible futures. Dr. Marr has advised high level US officials;
testified before US Senate and House Committees; written op-ed
pieces in national journals; and often appeared on major network
TV. She has also been a Senior Fellow at the National Defense
University , where she undertook long range studies on US security
policy, and an Associate Professor of Middle East History at the
University of Tennessee , Knoxville . She is a graduate of Barnard
and received her Ph.D. in Middle Eastern history from Harvard.
Dr. Ala Fa'ik is an Iraqi American activist addressing peace, justice, and human rights issues. He has served as the General Secretary to the Iraqi Forum for Democracy, an advocacy group for democratic reforms; a member of the Steering Committee for the Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice; and as a Member of the Board of Directors and Vice President for the Interfaith Round i Ann Arbor, MI. He is also one the organizers of the 2002 "Iraqi American Conference: For Free & Democratic Iraq," held in Southfield, MI. Dr. Fa'ik received his Ph.D. in theatre from the University of Michigan.
Anas
Shallal is an Iraqi American activist and a
businessman. He is the founder of Iraqi Americans for Peaceful Alternatives,
an ad hoc organization voicing concern over the war with Iraq; co-founder
of The Peace Café, the largest Arab and Jewish dialogue group
in the Washington metro area; a Foreign Policy in Focus Analyst
for the Institute for Policy Studies; a spokesperson for Education
for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC); and a peace fellow for Seeds
of Peace. Anas Shallal has received the Fairfax County Human Rights
Award; the United States Jefferson Medal, and the United Nations
Human Rights Community Award. Anas Shallal is a graduate of the
Catholic University of America and is currently enrolled in GMU's
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.