Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation from September 2018 to October 2021. Khailzad was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as United States ambassador to the United Nations,serving in the role from 2007 to 2009. Khalilzad was the highest ranking Muslim-American in government at the time he left the position. Prior to this,Khalilzad served in the Bush administration as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005 and Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.
Hoshyar Mahmud Mohammed Zebari,or simply Hoshyar Zebari is an Iraqi - Kurdish politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the country in 2014 and as Minister of Finance until 2016. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2014.
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research,analysis,and training to individuals in diplomacy,mediation,and other peace-building measures.
Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American diplomat,public official,and foreign policy expert who served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001–2009) and the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007–2009). A specialist in Central/East European affairs and the former Soviet Union,trans-Atlantic relations,and political-military affairs,Dobriansky held key senior roles in the administrations of five U.S. presidents.
Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji,also known as Mahmud Hafid Zadeh was a Kurdish leader of a series of Kurdish uprisings against the British Mandate of Iraq. He was sheikh of a Qadiriyah Sufi family of the Barzanji clan from the city of Sulaymaniyah,which is now in Kurdistan Region. He was named King of Kurdistan during several of these uprisings.
Kurdish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which asserts that Kurds are a nation and espouses the creation of an independent Kurdistan from Iran,Iraq,Syria,and Turkey.
Herro Kader Mustafa Garg is a Kurdish-American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Egypt since November 2023. She served as the United States ambassador to Bulgaria from October 2019 to March 2023.
Kori N. Schake is an American international relations scholar currently serving as Director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. She has held several high-level positions in the U.S. Defense and State Departments and on the National Security Council. She was a foreign policy adviser to the McCain-Palin 2008 presidential campaign. Schake is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. She serves on the board of advisors of Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Alexander Hamilton Society. Schake is a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee.
Abdülkadir Aksu is a Turkish politician from Diyarbakır. According to some sources,he is Kurdish;according to Üzeyir Tekin,he is of partial Albanian and Kurdish origin;and according to Hasan Celal Güzel,a friend of Aksu family,he is of Turkish (Turkmen) origin.
Mary Beth Long is an American foreign policy expert,entrepreneur,and former U.S. Government official. From 2007 to 2009,Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense,and as such,was the first female civilian four-star military equivalent in the history of the Pentagon. She led the International Security Affairs (ISA) office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for policy for the Middle East,Europe,and Africa. She was also the first woman ever to be appointed as Chair of NATO's High Level Group (HLG),the highest-level responsible for NATO's nuclear policy and reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO.
The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) is an independent think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University in Israel that conducts research and analysis of national security matters such as military and strategic affairs,terrorism and low intensity conflict,military balance in the Middle East,and cyber warfare.
Brett Holden McGurk is an American diplomat,attorney,and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush,Barack Obama,Donald Trump,and Joe Biden. He served as deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. He most recently led negotiations between the United States,Israel,Egypt,and Qatar to establish a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Victoria Curtin Gardner Coates is an American art historian,blogger and political consultant. She served as Senior Advisor to Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette in 2020 and later was appointed to run the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. She served on the United States National Security Council,originally as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Assessments before getting promoted to Deputy National Security Advisor upon the nomination of Robert C. O'Brien.
Fiona Hill is an Anglo-American academic,foreign affairs advisor and author,who since 2023 has served as Chancellor of Durham University.
Mira Radielovic Ricardel,is an American businesswoman and former government official.
Samantha Erin Vinograd is a former American government official and presently a foreign policy commentator. She served as the Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism,Threat Prevention,and Law Enforcement Policy at the Department of Homeland Security from July 2021 to December 2023.
Andrea Lee Thompson is an American government official and former military officer. She is the former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. Prior to this,she was the National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. Before entering government service,she was a career intelligence officer in the United States Army.
Earl G. Matthews is an American government official and attorney who held senior positions within the Department of the Army and at the White House during the administration of President Donald Trump. Matthews was a member of Trump's Department of Defense transition team and was appointed as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense,James N. Mattis on January 20,2017. Matthews was subsequently appointed as the Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Army on June 21,2019. He served as Acting General Counsel of the Army from June 21,2017,until James E. McPherson was sworn in as General Counsel on January 2,2018.
Alyssa Farah Griffin is an American political strategist and television personality. She was the White House director of strategic communications and Assistant to the President in 2020 during the presidency of Donald Trump. In addition to appearing on CNN as a commentator,she is a co-host of the talk show The View,for which she received a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.
Alina L. Romanowski is an American career diplomat who had served as the United States Ambassador to Iraq from June 2022 to December 2024. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Kuwait from February 2020 to April 2022.
