Professor Dlawer Ala’Aldeen is the Founding President of the Middle East Research Institute, former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan Regional Government (2009-2012), and Professor of Medicine in Nottingham University, UK.
Dlawer was born and brought up in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, studied medicine in Baghdad and completed his postgraduate studies (MSc, PhD, FRCPath) in London, UK, where he pursued a clinical academic career. As Professor of Medicine in Nottingham University, he held a number of senior board and executive positions at several national institutions and learned societies in the UK, including the Royal College of Pathologists, the Medical Research Council, the Health Protection Agency and Society for General Microbiology. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed international journals and co-authored several books in the field of microbiology and infectious diseases.
Dlawer co-founded the Kurdish Scientific and Medical Association, an advocacy organisation focused on protecting human rights in Kurdistan and Iraq. He and his colleagues played a key role in persuading the British and US governments for establishing a Safe Haven and No-Fly zone in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1991, which paved the way to the establishment of Kurdish administration in 1992. He also took an academic interest in, and published scientific evidence for, the use of chemical weapons in Kurdistan. He later published his memoires on lobbying activities in his book: ‘Lobbying for a Stateless Nation’ in 2007.
Dlawer has been involved since 1992 in supporting nation-building and capacity building projects in Kurdistan Region. In October 2009, he joined Barham Salih's Cabinet of Kurdistan Regional Government as Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research (until 5 April, 2012). He initiated an ambitious programme to modernise and radically reform the system of Higher Education in Kurdistan Region. He also led his Government’s major scholarship program for sending thousands of students abroad for Masters and PhD studies. He published on his experience in government and the challenges facing the KRG in a book: Nation Building and the System of Self-Governance in Kurdistan Region (2013).
Posts by Dlawer Ala’Aldeen:
- Post-ISIS Recovery of Nineveh: The Need for a Comprehensive Governance Roadmap, 15 Jun 2017 in Latest
- Middle East in transition: can Europe shape the new order?, 14 Sep 2015 in Blog post
- MERI Forum 2014 Impact & Feedback, 22 Nov 2014 in Latest
- The Middle East in turmoil: The need for dialogue and reconciliation, 30 Oct 2014 in Blog post
- Countering Terrorism Through Nation-Building, 05 Oct 2014 in Blog post
- Turkey, Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, 28 Aug 2014 in Blog post
Publications by Dlawer Ala’Aldeen:
-
Without a Federation Council, State-building in Iraq remains elusive
Published on: 29 Feb 2024 -
Expelling US forces from Iraq will be bad for all stakeholders – including Iran
Published on: 16 Jan 2024 -
Twenty years of Iraq-US engagement: Where do we go now?
Published on: 15 Mar 2023 -
Violent Extremism in Mosul & the Kurdistan Region: Context, Drivers, and Public Perception
Published on: 25 Oct 2022 -
The Intra-Shiite Battle of Wills at Its Peak: Ways forward
Published on: 01 Sep 2022 -
The Sadrists’ Gamble: A Milestone Even if It Fails
Published on: 02 Aug 2022 -
KDP and PUK in Sadir’s Chess Game
Published on: 29 Jan 2022 -
State-Building in Iraq
Published on: 04 Jul 2021 -
Sectarianism and Sectarianisation in Iraq: Ambassadorial Appointments as an Exemplar
Published on: 25 May 2021 -
The Status of Erbil-Baghdad Relations
Published on: 06 Sep 2020 -
Decentralisation in Iraq: Process, Progress & a New Tailor-Made Model
Published on: 19 May 2020 -
Ninewa: Initiative Mapping of Sustainable Returns & Stabilization Efforts
Published on: 07 May 2020 -
Ninewa: Barriers to Return and Community Resilience – A Meta Analysis
Published on: 07 May 2020 -
How a Fragile Iraq Is Facing the Covid-19 Challenge
Published on: 09 Apr 2020 -
A Decade of US & Iranian Policy Towards Iraq Will Shape 2020
Published on: 16 Jan 2020 -
Barriers for IDP Return in Nineveh: A Meta-Analysis & Recommendations
Published on: 26 Nov 2019 -
Ninewa Plains and Western Ninewa Barriers to Return and Community Resilience
Published on: 20 Nov 2019 -
Enhancing chemical security in Kurdistan Region
Published on: 13 Jun 2019 -
Iran-US tension and the Ghost of War
Published on: 19 May 2019 -
Reconstructing Iraq: Where Do We Stand?
Published on: 10 Mar 2019 -
EU-Turkey Policies in Iraq & Syria: Challenges & Opportunities
Published on: 04 Feb 2019 -
Country to Watch in 2019: Iraq
Published on: 30 Dec 2018 -
The Caliphate’s defeat: the future of Iraq
Published on: 23 Dec 2018 -
State-building: A Roadmap for the Rule of Law and Institutionalisation in the Kurdistan Region
Published on: 12 Jun 2018 -
The Kurdish ‘Bloc’ in Iraq: Post-Election Challenges and Opportunities
Published on: 13 May 2018 -
Turkey and the European Union: Conflicting Policies and Opportunities for Cohesion and Cooperation In Iraq and Syria
Published on: 15 Apr 2018 -
EU and Turkish Energy Interests in the Caspian and Middle East Regions
Published on: 28 Mar 2018 -
Confessionalism and Electoral Prospects in Iraq
Published on: 26 Mar 2018 -
Perceptions of EU Crisis Response in Iraq
Published on: 05 Nov 2017 -
Universities are rising from ruins of war
Published on: 20 Aug 2017 -
Kurdistan: a potential strategic partner the US deserves
Published on: 25 Jul 2017 -
The Future of the Middle East
Published on: 20 Dec 2016 -
State-building in a Fragmented Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Published on: 01 Aug 2016 -
Protecting Minorities’ Rights in the Kurdistan Region: A Tailor-Made Model
Published on: 12 Oct 2015 -
The HDP’s Next Best Move
Published on: 14 Jun 2015 -
Realpolitik and disastrous consequences
Published on: 16 Mar 2015 -
The emerging Middle East order: who can shape it and how?
Published on: 16 Oct 2014 -
Revise Iraq to save it
Published on: 23 Jul 2014 -
Iraq as we knew it, is no longer
Published on: 03 Jul 2014