2007

• With support from the U.S. Army’s Tenth Mountain Division and the local mayor, USIP convenes an Iraqi-facilitated reconciliation conference for Sunni and Shia tribal sheiks in Mahmoudiya district that relieved US troops of a major security burden and resulted in a major reduction in U.S. military and Iraqi civilian casualties. The pact agreed to at the conference also facilitates the return of displaced families to their homes.
• In addition to its ongoing constitutional implementation programs,USIP begins providing advice and technical assistance to the Constitutional Review Committee responsible for recommending amendments to the constitution. These efforts have focus on federalism and Iraq’s charter of human and minority rights, and bring together senior legal advisors and political leaders from religious and ethnic minorities, women, and other groups at risk of being politically marginalized.
• Through the “Iraq and Its Neighbors” Initiative, USIP begins providing Iraqi political elites with opportunities to engage with officials from neighboring countries at USIP organized dialogues. The initiative would culminate in 2011 with the publication of the book Iraq, Its Neighbors, and the United States, which examines how Iraq's evolving political order affects its complex relationships with its neighbors and the United States.