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 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.
Herbert Raymond McMaster is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War,Operation Enduring Freedom,and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Seth G. Jones is an academic,political scientist and author. Jones is most renowned for his work on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism;much of his published material and media presence relates to US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan,and in confronting al-Qāʿida. He is currently a senior vice president,Harold Brown Chair,director of the International Security Program,and director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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 an American diplomat who had served as the United States ambassador to Bulgaria from October 2019 to February 2023. She is the current nominee to be the next US Ambassador to Egypt.
Kori N. Schake is the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. She has held several high 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.
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 H. McGurk is an American diplomat,attorney,and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush,Barack Obama,and Donald Trump,and is currently the Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and the National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa,in the Biden administration.
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 a British-American foreign affairs specialist and author. She is a former official at the U.S. National Security Council,specializing in Russian and European affairs. She was a witness in the November 2019 House hearings regarding the impeachment inquiry during the first impeachment of Donald Trump. She earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1998. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. She took up office as Chancellor of Durham University in England in June 2023.
Mira Radielovic Ricardel,is an American businesswoman and former federal political appointee.
Samantha Erin Vinograd is an American government official and foreign policy commentator who has served as the assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention in the Department of Homeland Security since 2022.
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. She is a co-host of the daytime talk show The View and also appears on CNN as a political commentator.
Alina L. Romanowski is an American career diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Iraq since June 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Kuwait from February 2020 to April 2022.
Elbridge A. Colby is an American national security policy expert who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development from 2017 to 2018 during the Trump administration. He led the development and rollout of the 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy,which,among other things,shifted the U.S. Defense Department's focus to challenges posed by China's rise.
