W&M Law School to host symposium on the future of Iraq
Several of the world's most knowledgeable experts on Iraq will gather on Oct. 8-9 at William & Mary Law School for a symposium on that country's future. The event is free and open to the public and will be held in Room 119 at the Law School.
The symposium is sponsored by the Center for Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding at William & Mary Law School, the Reves Center for International Studies and the Kraemer Middle East Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Program. Financial and logistical support is also provided by Lois Critchfield and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The event begins Thursday, Oct. 8, at 4 p.m. with "The Day After Tomorrow: Iraq and America," a keynote address by Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, dean and executive professor at the George Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University and the 2015 Kraemer Middle East Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at William & Mary.
On Friday, Oct. 9, the conference continues from 9 a.m. to noon with a roundtable discussion, "Iraq: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow." Joining Crocker for the discussion will be: Emma Sky, director of Yale World Fellows and senior fellow at Yale's Jackson Institute; Sarhang Hamasaeed, senior program officer for the Middle-East and North Africa Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace; and Zaid Al-Ali, visiting lecturer in comparative constitutional law at Princeton's Program in Law and Public Affairs. Christie S. Warren, professor of the practice of international and comparative law at William & Mary Law School, and director of the school's Center for Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, will serve as moderator.
Sky and Al-Ali will participate in signings of their books, which will be available for sale before and during Friday's roundtable. Sky is the author of The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq. Al-Ali is the author of The Struggle for Iraq’s Future: How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy.
The Kraemer Middle East Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence was established with a generous gift from Carole A. and Richard C. Kraemer '65. It is offered yearly and provides the opportunity for a scholar specializing in Islamic law and governance to spend a short period of time at William & Mary sharing his or her expertise with the university community.
