The reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq will begin in earnest in 2010, even as Iraq holds hotly contested elections. This talk, based on Professor Long’s trip to Iraq and Jordan in December 2009 and dozens of interviews with U.S. and Iraqi personnel, will discuss the present and likely future of Iraq.  Long will emphasize Iraqi security and security forces but also discuss political dynamics.

Professor Long previously worked for the RAND Corporation, serving in Iraq as an analyst and advisor to the Multinational Force Iraq and the U.S. military. Long was co-founder of the Working Group on Insurgency and Irregular Warfare at the MIT Center for International Studies and is a participant in the RAND Counterinsurgency Board of Experts. Long has a BS from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  He is a member of the American Political Science Association, International Studies Association and International Institute for Strategic Studies.

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