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In this episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Emma Sinclair talk to Emma Sky. Emma is an expert on conflict, reconciliation and stability, and has worked mainly in the Middle East. She served in Iraq as the political advisor to US General Ray Odierno and General David Petraeus during the surge and is now Director of the International Leadership Center at Yale University, overseeing the Yale World Fellows program and other initiatives. Emma Sky is a Senior Fellow at Yale's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where she lectures on Middle East politics and global affairs.SUGGESTED READING FROM THIS EPISODE:The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq (Emma Sky, 2015)In a Time of Monsters: Travelling in a Middle East in Revolt (Emma Sky, 2019)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence: A Journey to Personal and Professional Success (Scott Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.
America's decision to go to war in 2003 and remove the regime of Saddam Hussein has shaped much of the century for Iraq, the region, the United States and arguably the world. In this episode, host Mina Al-Oraibi discusses how the world has changed since the US-led invasion with Emma Sky, founding director of Yale's International Leadership Centre, Douglas A. Silliman, president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and the ambassador to Iraq from 2016-2019, and, Paul Salem, President and CEO of the Middle East Institute based in Washington. This episode was produced by Doaa Farid, editing and sound design by Arthur Eddyson, music by Naseer Shamma
It's twenty years since the US and UK invaded Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Kirsty Wark discusses the lead up to the war, the impact on the lives of Iraqis and the legacy. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad left his job in Baghdad and became a journalist during the Iraq War in 2003. He witnessed first-hand the liberation of his country from a megalomaniac leader and then its descent into factionalism and violence. In A Stranger In Your Own City he movingly recounts the very real human cost of the invasion, as well as the civil wars and rise of ISIS that followed. Emma Sky volunteered to help rebuild Iraq post-invasion and went on to serve as the representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk and then as a political advisor to the US army in the following decade. Now an academic at Yale University, she looks back at why the Iraq invasion failed and its implications across the region. She's the author of The Unravelling and In a Time of Monsters: Travelling in a Middle East in Revolt. The BBC's Security correspondent Gordon Corera was a young reporter during the frenetic build up to the war, talking to spies, defectors and politicians. In a 10-part series – Shock and War: Iraq 20 Years On (from 13th March at 1.45 and on BBC Sounds) – he talks to those at the centre of that decision to go to war, and looks at the far-reaching consequences, from trust in politics, security and liberal intervention. Producer: Katy Hickman
Every year, Yale’s International Leadership Center brings together the World Fellows, a group of extraordinary leaders from every continent to explore how to address the most acute and complex challenges facing the world today. In October 2022, New Constellations partnered with creative innovator, cultural entrepreneur and filmmaker Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir to design a bespoke journey for the 2022 World Fellows. During a residential retreat surrounded by the magical autumn colours of Sheffield Massachusetts, we explored how to connect with our InnSæi, what it means to be a transformational leader in times of radical uncertainty, and what stars or principles we can navigate by to build systems of human and planetary flourishing. We are grateful to Emma Sky and the team at Yale, and the amazing group of 2022 World Fellows who joined us for this journey: Andrei Kureichik (Belarus), Babatunde Omilola (Nigeria), Belva Devara (Indonesia), Fakhar Durrani (Pakistan), Huong Dang (Vietnam), Jad Maalouf (Lebanon), Kirsten Rulf (Germany), Kyriacos Koupparis (Cyprus), Manasi Subramaniam (India), Martin Inthamoussú (Uruguay), Minami Tsubouchi (Japan), Rufaro Mudimu (South Africa), Sahar Albazar (Egypt), Solangel Fernández (Peru), Vera D. Kwakofi (UK), Zhao Zhong (China). Made by Jo Barratt with Gemma Mortensen, Iris Andrews, Lily Piachaud and Hadeel Elshak. Discover more at newconstellations.co, and join us on Instagram and Twitter @newconstells Transcript
JJ Chalmers talks about the human and economic cost of clearing up after the Ukraine war with military historian Professor Sir Hew Strachan of St Andrew's University, Major General James Cowan, HALO's CEO, and Emma Sky, Director of Yale University's International Leadership Centre. How does it compare with the costs of clearing the war-flattened cities of the Middle East or a country like Mozambique? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The US once enjoyed the esteemed position of being the 'city on the hill', a beacon of hope and an example to the rest of the world. Post-9/11, however, the superpower's conduct in the Middle East has left its reputation tarnished. Read by Leighton Pugh.
In the third episode of Warpod's special series ‘Reckoning with 9/11', hosts Larry Attree and Delina Goxho are joined by Emma Sky, author of ‘The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq', who served as political advisor to General Odierno, the commander of US Forces in Iraq and Renad Mansour, senior research fellow and project director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House, to reflect on how the war on terror became connected to the push to topple Saddam Hussein and the consequences it unleashed in Iraq. This special Warpod series ‘Reckoning with 9/11' is created by Saferworld with support from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and produced by the Podcast Company. Please note the views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the contributors featured. They are not necessarily the views or opinions of Saferworld.
Emma Sky, Political Advisor to US Generals Odierno and Petraeus between 2007 and 2010, talks to Peter Roberts about what we need to learn from our experiences of endless wars in the Middle East and how to utilise that in an era of strategic competition with China.
The Middle East is in crisis. The hopeful Arab Spring has left a complex legacy, and United States-led efforts to bring democracy to the region have unravelled in the face of state collapse, sectarianism, and insurgency. Now the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated civil wars from Syria to Libya and aggravated political crises across the region and nearby North Africa. What does the future hold for the Middle East? And is there any hope for the region after the crisis? Jack Dickens hosts Emma Sky and Robert Fox to talk about state collapse and democracy in the Middle East. The podcast was recorded in July, before the recent explosion in Beirut.
Emma Sky has led an extraordinary life. Having worked hard to bring about peace between Palestine and Israel she then volunteered to help Iraq, post invasion, in 2003. Within weeks she running a province and later went on to advise the most senior American generals in Iraq. Emma and I discuss the challenges - internal as well as external - of her position as governor coordinator of Kirkuk, working with the American military, and refinding her purpose. Emma is also the author of two books: the first, The Unravelling is an insightful account of her experiences in Iraq, explaining what went wrong; A Time of Monsters deals with Emma's post Iraq travels, including the heady optimism and then crushing disappointment that followed the so-called Arab spring. Emma is now the director of Yale's World Fellows Programme and is the co-founder of the Good Society Forum: https://www.goodsocietyforum.com/ (https://www.goodsocietyforum.com/)
Image Courtesy of Aljazeera News, “Iraq protesters blockade oilfield, rally in southern cities” In this episode, Matt, Tiffany, and guest co-host Matt Trevithick interview Emma Sky, former advisor to the Commanding General of US Forces in Iraq and NATO in Afghanistan, about the implications of COVID-19 for stability and governance in the Middle East. Emma Sky is the Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program and a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute, where she teaches Middle East politics. She is the author of the highly acclaimed The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq (2015) and In a Time of Monsters: Travelling in a Middle East in Revolt (2019).Sky served as advisor to the Commanding General of US Forces in Iraq from 2007-2010; as advisor to the Commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2006; as advisor to the US Security Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process in 2005; and as Governorate Co-ordinator of Kirkuk for the Coalition Provisional Authority, 2003-2004. Other Resources“Coronavirus: Middle East faces uncertainty amid armed conflicts” Hashem Ahelbarra, Aljazeera Read More Here
Following the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani last week, Iraq's parliament voted to ask the prime minister to oust US forces from the country. It comes after violent protests in Iraq against both the Iraqi government and the US embassy in Baghdad. Emma Sky, a former political adviser to the commanding general of US forces in Iraq and now at Yale University, joins Deep Dish to explain why US-Iraq relations have deteriorated so abruptly and what it means for Iran and ISIS.
Tensions between the US and Iran have been high recently, following the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by the US in Baghdad. Iran declared it would no longer abide by any of the restrictions imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal, and President Donald Trump threatened that the US could strike back at Iran in the event of retaliation for Soleimani's death "in a disproportionate manner". So what is happening, and why? 5 Live's Nicky Campbell put your questions to a panel of experts: Jonathan Marcus, BBC Diplomatic Correspondent; Martin Lanni, former Royal Navy Liaison officer to the US Fifth Fleet in the Middle-East; global politics writer Tim Marshall; Emma Sky, US military political advisor and Middle Eastern politics lecturer; and Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi from defence thinktank RUSI.
Ex marine and journalist Elliot Ackerman talks with Iraq war political advisor Emma Sky. A novel by Shiromi Pinto tracing the life of Sri Lankan architect Minnette de Silva. New Generation Thinker Christina Faraday researches the history of pop-up anatomy books. Rana Mitter presents. Elliot Ackerman has written Places and Names. Emma Sky has written In a Time of Monsters. Shiromi Pinto has written Plastic Emotions You can hear a Free Thinking discussion about Why We Fight with Former army officer Dr Mike Martin and Priya Satia https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b1pyn4 How Terrorism Works https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08v8y00 Diplomacy https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b094sxfh Catch 22 https://bbc.in/2XFtIvU Producer: Fiona McLean
Date of Recording: 25 Feb 2019 Description: Returning to the UK in September 2010 after serving in Iraq as the political adviser to the top American general, Emma Sky felt no sense of homecoming. She soon found herself back in the Middle East, traveling through a region in revolt. In A Time of Monsters bears witness to the demands of young people for dignity and justice during the Arab Spring; the inability of sclerotic regimes to reform; the descent of Syria into civil war; the rise of the Islamic State; and the flight of refugees to Europe. With deep empathy for its people and an extensive understanding of the Middle East, Sky makes a complex region more comprehensible. A great storyteller and observational writer, Sky also reveals the ties that bind the Middle East to the West and how blowback from our interventions in the region contributed to the British vote to leave the European Union and to the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Speaker Bio: Emma Sky is a Senior Fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute. She worked in the Middle East for twenty years and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services in Iraq. she is the author of the critically acclaimed The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut.
KSKA: Tuesday, November 07, at 2:00 p.m. This week we're taking a look back at mistakes made in Iraq from an insider's perspective. Emma Sky, author of “The Unraveling:High Hopes and Missed Opportunities,” and Director of the World Fellows Program at Yale University, discusses how both internal and external political forces caused the mission in Iraq to fail and created lasting instability in the whole region. LISTEN HERE
KSKA: Tuesday, November 07, at 2:00 p.m. This week we’re taking a look back at mistakes made in Iraq from an insider’s perspective. Emma Sky, author of “The Unraveling:High Hopes and Missed Opportunities,” and Director of the World Fellows Program at Yale University, discusses how both internal and external political forces caused the mission in Iraq to fail and created lasting instability in the whole region. LISTEN HERE
KSKA: Tuesday, November 07, at 2:00 p.m. This week we’re taking a look back at mistakes made in Iraq from an insider’s perspective. Emma Sky, author of “The Unraveling:High Hopes and Missed Opportunities,” and Director of the World Fellows Program at Yale University, discusses how both internal and external political forces caused the mission in Iraq to fail and created lasting instability in the whole region. LISTEN HERE
"'The old international order is at an end. We will look back and see that it was Iraq war that brought that order to an end." In the aftermath of the presidential election, Emma Sky speaks to YJIA about the Iraq War, the legacy of Barack Obama in the Middle East, and what to expect from a Donald Trump Presidency.
Auckland Writers Festival 2016 Iraqis likened Emma Sky to the early twentieth-century British adventurer Gertrude Bell, one of the architects of modern Iraq. She is a formidable internationalist, with experience spanning the fields of development, diplomacy and defense. As a civilian and staunch opponent of the invasion of Iraq, she became political advisor to US general Ray Odierno in that country. Her book The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq, shortlisted for the prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize For Non-Fiction, fathoms Middle East politics and the rise of the self-styled Islamic State and sheds light on the difficulties of navigating a decidedly foreign land. In conversation with Simon Wilson. Supported by Westpac
Auckland Writers Festival 2016 In 2015 more than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe, most fleeing the war-torn region of Syria. The exodus is ongoing. Meanwhile, Donald Trump argues for a wall across the border of the US and Mexico, and closer to home Australia operates one of the harshest border policies in the world. How porous should borders be? Do nations have the right to refuse sanctuary? Are refugees collateral damage as the search for strategic long-term solutions to bloody conflicts stumbles on? Three Festival guests – Israeli strategic consultant Yossi Alpher, Medecins Sans Frontieres co-founder Jean-Christophe Rufin, and British Middle East expert Emma Sky parse the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Convened by British philosopher Julian Baggini.
Immediately after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, British civilian Emma Sky was enlisted as the representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk, one of Iraq's most volatile areas. She went on to serve in the region longer than any other senior military or diplomatic figure – including as political advisor to the Commanding General of US Forces in Iraq from 2007–2010. In The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq, Sky recounts the years following the fall of Hussein, detailing the corruption, the brutal insurgencies and the often disastrous manoeuvres of both the Bush and Obama administrations. Offering a unique insider's perspective, it has been praised in the Guardian as ‘adetailed and darkly humorous account that tries to understand everyone involved, Iraqis and Americans, on their own terms.' Emma Sky (left) and Sally Warhaft (right) Prior to her time in Iraq, Sky worked in the Palestinian territories for a decade. She is a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute, where she teaches Middle East politics. Sky visited Melbourne and Ballarat to talk with Sally Warhaft about the Middle East post-Hussein, the continuing importance of the US and the lessons to be learned about the limitations of power. This podcast episode brings you their discussion in Melbourne.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Emma Sky was an Arabist, working at the British Council in 2003 when the United Kingdom joined the US led invasion and occupation of Iraq. Though she strongly opposed the war, she opted to join the coalition provisional authority, which administered Iraq after the fall of Saddam. Here's why She served as the top coalition official in the-oil rich and ethnically diverse province of Kirkuk, and later returned to Iraq as the top civilian advisor to advisor to general Ray Odierno as they managed what's now known as the Sunni Awakening. She tells stories from those experiences in the episode you are about to hear. She also has them down in her new memoir called The Unraveling. Sky had an unusual upringin. She was raised by a single mom who worked at an all boys school. So young emma sky's formative years very much included being the only girl in the room, and she discusses how that experience affected her later on in life. We kick off with a discussion about the current state of affairs in Iraq and Syria, before pivoting to a longer discussion about her life and career, which includes a long stint in Israel at the height of the peace process in the 1990s and its unraveling.
Emma Sky was U.S. General Odierno's chief political adviser during the the surge - building alliances with the Sunni leaders who would defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq. She also administered a key Kurdish area for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Her memoir of her time in Iraq is: "The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq." She now teaches at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. This is the first in an occasional series of Wavemaker briefings from leading authorities on ISIS and the region.
Emma Sky was U.S. General Odierno's chief political adviser during the the surge - building alliances with the Sunni leaders who would defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq. She also administered a key Kurdish area for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Her memoir of her time in Iraq is: "The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq." She now teaches at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. This is the first in an occasional series of Wavemaker briefings from leading authorities on ISIS and the region.
A new memoir from British Middle East expert Emma Sky provides an insider's take on the Iraq war. This hour, we talk to Sky about her book called The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq.Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Author and Middle East expert, Emma Sky, discusses Iraqi politics and her path to becoming the political advisor to U.S. General Ray Odierno in Iraq with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.
When the self-styled Islamic State movement took control of Ramadi, capital of Iraq's Anbar province, it was another humiliation for the Baghdad government. Another discomforting development for the United States which has bombed IS, but failed to neutralise the jihadi threat. Stephen Sackur talks to Emma Sky, a British woman who was a senior adviser to the US military in Iraq until 2010. Where do the roots of the current mess lie and what should America and the West be doing now?(Photo: Emma Sky, former adviser to the US in Iraq)
This is a recording of an interview Matthew Alan Hill conducted with Emma Sky on July 14, 2011 for the Women and US Foreign Policy Interview Project at The Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London.