Back

Forum Videos

Please click on the links to access the video page of each session.

Session 1:  The Economic Crisis; Lessons learnt?
§  Mahdi Hafiz, Member of Parliament, Former Minister of Planning
§  Muzhir Mohammed Salih, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Iraq
§  Ashti Hawrami, Minister of Natural Resources, KRG
§  Patrick Simonnet, Ambassador/Head, EU Delegation to Iraq (Chair)

§  Ibrahim Alizada, Iranian Communist Party (Komal)
§  Khalid Azizi, Kurdistan Democratic Party (Iran)
§  Mustafa Hijri, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
§  Omar Ilkhanizadeh Iranian Komala Party of Kurdistan
§  Abdulla Muhtadi, Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan
§  Dlawer Ala’Aldeen, President of MERI (Chair)

Session 3: Reconciliation after IS: improving relationships and reconnecting communities
§  Lise Grande, UN’s Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General
§  Falah Mustafa, Minister, Head of Department of Foreign Affairs, KRG
§  Osama Al-Gharizi, United States Institute for Peace, USA
§  Mohammed Salman, National Reconciliation in Prime Minister’s Office
§  Otmar Oehring, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Germany (Chair)
*Paper presentation:
-Dave van Zoonen, Research Fellow, MERI
-Haider Ibrahimi, Executive Director of Sanad for Peacebuilding

Session 4: Liberating Mosul: Political and Security Solutions
§  Rafe Al-Esawi, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Iraq
§  Atheel Al-Nujaifi, Former Governor of Mosul
§  Kenneth Gross, US Consul General in Erbil.
§  Michael Knights, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, USA
§  Dylan O’Driscoll, Middle East Research Institute (Chair)

Session 5: Governing Iraq
§  Salim Al-Jobouri, Speaker of Iraqi Parliament
§  Ammar Al-Hakim, Head of Islamic Supreme Council, Iraq
§  Barham Salih, Former Prime Minister of KRG
§  Dlawer Ala’Aldeen, President of MERI (Chair)

Session 6: Visions for the future of the Kurdistan Region: A debate with the Prime Minister.
§  Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region.
§  Kenneth Pollack, The Brookings Institute, USA

Session 7: A conflict sensitive EU approach to conflict and crisis in the Middle East.
§  Morten Bøås, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway
§  Steven Blockmans, Centre for European Policy Studies, Belgium
§  Tine Gade, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway
§  Athanasios Manis, Middle East Research Institute  (Chair)

Session 8: Global Power dynamics in the Middle East: Conflict and Collaboration
§  Kenneth Pollack, The Brookings Institute, USA
§  Clarisse Pasztory, Delegation of the European Union to Iraq
§  Max Hoffman, Center for American Progress, USA
§  Tanya Gilly, Former Member of Iraqi Parliament (Chair)

Session 9: Regional Power Dynamics: Conflict and Collaboration
§  Cengiz Candar, Journalist and Writer, Turkey
§  David Romano, Professor of Middle East Politics, Missori University, USA
§  Walter Posch, National Defence Academy, Austria
§  Irene Costantini, Research Fellow, MERI (Chair)

Session 10: Local Power Dynamics in Kurdistan: Visions for the Future
§  Salahaddin Bahaddin, Leader of Islamic Union of Kurdistan
§  Ali Bapeer, Ameer of Islamic Group of Kurdistan§  Mohammed Haji
§  Mahmoud, Leader, Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party

Session 11: Local Power Dynamics in Kurdistan: Visions for the Future
§  Mala Bakhtiar, Politburo member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
§  Fazil Mirani, Politburo member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party