PrintSam Parker
Program Officer (Iraq)
Contact
Countries: Iraq
Sam Parker is a program officer in the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations. He is involved in coordinating and providing consultation for USIP’s programs in Iraq, as well as researching and writing for the Institute’s Iraq publications.
Prior to joining USIP, Parker worked on open-source intelligence analysis on Iraqi politics and the Iraqi insurgency at Science Applications International Corporation. Prior to that, he worked at USIP as a researcher for the Iraq Study Group and as an assistant to esteemed Iraq scholar Phebe Marr.
Parker received a B.A. in liberal arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, M.D., and a M.A. in Arab studies from Georgetown University. He is a fluent reader of Arabic.
Resources & Tools
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In meetings conducted in Baghdad in May 2009, senior Iraqi leaders indicated how they interpret January’s provincial election results, expressed concerns about the recent downturn in security, lamented the tremendous financial pressure the government is feeling due to the decline in oil prices, and projected their hopes for national elections slated for 30 January 2010. The Iraqis, numbering about 20, represented the highest level of nearly all of the main Iraqi political factions, including leaders in the Council of Representatives (COR), members of the presidency, and top officials in the government. |
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Since 2004, USIP's "Iraq and its Neighbors" initiative has sponsored track II dialogues and ongoing research on relations between Iraq and its six immediate neighbors. As part of this work, the Institute—in partnership with the Stimson Center—sponsored a bipartisan, independent, and unofficial Study Mission to Syria and Saudi Arabia in mid-January 2009. The delegation met with a wide variety of leading political figures, businesspeople, NGOs and foreign policy experts in both countries, including President Bashar Assad of Syria and Prince Turki al-Faysal of Saudi Arabia. The top concern for both Riyadh and Damascus remains blowback from Iraq: the ascendance of ethnic and sectarian identity and the spread of Islamic militancy. The need to contain this threat is the dominant force that shapes their relations with Iraq. Both Syria and Saudi Arabia have a vital interest in ensuring that Iraq's emerging political order is inclusive of Sunni Arab Iraqis, who have not yet been fully incorporated into Iraqi institutions. This working paper represents the initial findings of the Study Mission. |
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President-elect Obama has stated his commitment to withdraw combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months, leaving a residual force of unspecified size for counterterrorism operations, training and equipping Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and protection of Americans. Judging from his statements during the campaign, it appears that the President-elect would like to leave Iraq’s internal problems to the Iraqis and treat Iraq as part of overall regional concerns rather than being his central focus. |
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Since their 2005 inception in Iraq, PRTs have struggled to fully define their mission, overcome structural problems, learn to work alongside their military counterparts and assist Iraqis down the path to self-governance and stability so that U.S. forces can withdraw. While the concept was born in the Afghan conflict, PRTs in Iraq bear little resemblance to their Afghan cousins, which are led and largely staffed by military officers. |
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The Bush Administration and Congress face difficult choices in Iraq. How can the relative success during the surge be prolonged and solidified? Should the drawdown continue? When will the Iraqi security forces be ready to take over? What can be done to accelerate political progress? |
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USIP Catalyzes Peacebuilding Conference in Iraq's Mahmoudiya District Countries: Iraq
| Issue Areas: Conflict Management and Resolution, Mediation and Facilitation, Post-Conflict Activities
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Events
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July 28, 2009
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July 31, 2009
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March 3, 2009
Over the past year, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs has convened a group of distinguished Iraqi academics and professionals to develop policy recommendations for Iraq. This group includes Iraqis from all parts of the country and features Islamists as well as secularists, people living inside Iraq as well as exiles, and a variety of professional backgrounds, including political science, the oil sector and the military. |
Additional Selected Works
Interviews:
- BBC Arabic Interview on U.S. talks with Iraqi insurgents (in Arabic)
- Interview with USIP about U.S.-Iraqi Relations
- Council on Foreign Relations Interview on Iraq's Provincial Elections
- C-SPAN Interview on U.S. Operations in Iraq
Publications:
- The New Nuri al-Maliki
Foreign Policy Magazine (June 21, 2009) - Tribulations of the Electoral Law
Arab Reform Bulletin (November 2009) - Is Iraq Back?
Current History (December 2009)