Date/Time: 8th March 2016

Emma Sky served in Iraq longer than any other senior military or diplomatic figure. With her unrivalled perspective, she shares her experiences as the Coalition’s Governorate Co-ordinator for Kirkuk Province and later as an advisor to the US Commanding General.

Drawing on themes in her recent memoir, The Unravelling, Emma will provide unique insight into the workings of the Coalition and Iraqi society, setting out the lessons that need to be learnt from this most contentious of wars.  The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.

Speaker biography

Emma Sky served as advisor to General Ray Odierno, Commanding General of U.S. Forces in Iraq (2007-2010), as advisor to Commander, NATO's International Security Force in Afghanistan (2006), as advisor to the U.S. Security Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (2005), and Governorate Coordinator of Kirkuk for the Coalition Provisional Authority (2003-2004).

Before that, she worked for a decade in the Palestinian territories, managing projects to develop Palestinian institutions and promoting Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. She has also worked on poverty elimination, human rights, justice and public administration reform, security sector reform, and conflict resolution in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. 

Educated at Oxford (UK), Alexandria (Egypt), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), and Liverpool (UK), she teaches Middle East Politics at Yale and has published widely on both sides of the Atlantic. She was awarded an Officer of the British Empire by the Queen of England.