Johnny West
Journalist and Founder of Open Oil
Discussants
Peter McPherson
Former USAID Administrator and Director of Economic Policy for the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq
Abderrahim Foukara
Al Jazeera Washington Bureau Chief
Andy Baukol
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Africa and the Middle East
Hosted by
Todd Moss
Vice President for Programs and Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development
Related Blog
The Arab Spring has grabbed the world’s attention, yet Iraq—the Arab country that not long ago was the very epicenter of American foreign policy—has almost entirely fallen off the front pages. While Iraq’s security has improved greatly, the country is still struggling to consolidate a functional government and come up with a coherent spending plan for its oil wealth. In a new CGD working paper, “Iraq’s Last Window: Diffusing the Risks of a Petro-State,” Johnny West, a longtime journalist in the Middle East and author of the recent book, Karama! Journeys through the Arab Spring, identifies a new opportunity for direct distribution of Iraqi oil rents that he argues could halve poverty, diversify the economy and cement territorial integrity by giving Iraqis a stake in their oil wealth. The event will feature a brief presentation of the paper by West, followed by a discussion with a distinguished panel.
