In January of 2007 President Bush announced what he and the administration have called a new direction in U.S. policy for Iraq. The president has called this a strategy that will help the Iraqis achieve the objective of a country that can govern, sustain, and defend itself. The White House has said this is a broad and multi-faceted strategy that will have military, economic, and political fronts.
Leading Brookings experts representing a broad spectrum of disciplines examine the implications of President Bush's new foreign policy initiative. Specifically, they review the details of the Iraq strategy, assess if it will work or should be modified, determine how to best measure success or failure, explore what would be the consequences of that failure, and consider alternative options.
Participants in the first public discussion include Sarah Binder, senior fellow, Governance Studies; Philip H. Gordon, senior fellow; Martin S. Indyk, senior fellow and director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy; and Kenneth M. Pollack, senior fellow and director of research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Carlos Pascual, vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies, moderates the panel.
Bio
Sarah Binder
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies; Professor of Political Science, George Washington University
Congress and congressional history, House and Senate rules and reform, Judicial selection, Political parties
Previous Position(s): Robert Hartley Research Fellow, Research Associate, and Fellow, Brookings; Press Secretary and Legislative Aide to U.S. Representative Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) (1986-90)
Philip H. Gordon
Dr. Philip Gordon is a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies and Director of the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe.
Prior to coming to Brookings he was Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, where he was responsible for as range of issues including NATO, Western Europe, Turkey and the OSCE. From 1994-98 he was Senior Fellow for U.S. Strategic Studies and the Editor of Survival at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
He has previously held teaching and research posts at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC; INSEAD, in Fontainebleau, France and Singapore; and the German Society for Foreign Affairs in Bonn.
Dr. Gordon has a Ph.D. and M.A. and in European Studies and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) and a B.A. in French and Philosophy from Ohio University. He is a regular commentator in international affairs and U.S. foreign policy for major television and radio networks and a frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of major publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, The New Republic Online, Yale Global and Le Monde.
He is the author or co-author of a number of books, including Crescent of Crisis: U.S.-European Strategy for the Greater Middle East (Brookings, 2006); Allies at War: America, Europe and the Crisis Over Iraq (McGraw-Hill, 2004); Iraq: The Transatlantic Debate (EU Institute for Security Studies December 2002); The French Challenge: Adapting to Globalization (Brookings, 2001); Cold War Statesmen Confront the Bomb: Diplomacy and Nuclear Weapons Since 1945 (Oxford University Press, 1999); The Transatlantic Allies and the Changing Middle East (Oxford/IISS, 1998); NATO's Transformation (Rowman and Littlefield, 1997); France, Germany and the Western Alliance (Westview, 1995); and A Certain Idea of France: French Security and the Gaullist Legacy (Princeton, 1993).
Amb. Martin S. Indyk
Ambassador Indyk is the Middle East expert and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin S. Indyk joined the Brookings Institution on September 1, 2001 as a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program.
Ambassador Indyk served two tours in Israel, the first during the Rabin years (1995-97), and the second (2000-June 2001) during efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace and stem the violence of the intifadah. During these periods, he helped to strengthen U.S-Israeli relations, reinforce the U.S. commitment to advance the peace process, and substantially increase the level of mutually beneficial trade and investment.
Prior to his assignment to Israel, Dr. Indyk served as special assistant to President Clinton and as senior director of Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC).
While at the NSC, he served as principal adviser to the president and the National Security Adviser on Arab-Israeli issues, Iraq, Iran, and South Asia. He was a senior member of Secretary Christopher's Middle East peace team and served as the White House representative on the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission.
Carlos Pascual
Carlos Pascual is vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Pascual joins Brookings after a 23 year career in the United States Department of State, National Security Council (NSC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Before joining Brookings, Mr. Pascual served as coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the United States Department of State where he led and coordinated U.S. government planning to help stabilize and reconstruct societies in transition from conflict or civil strife. The primary focus of his work was Sudan, Haiti, and several conflict prevention activities in Africa, Asia and Latin America
From October 2000 - August 2003, Mr. Pascual served as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. He oversaw U.S. policy focused on promoting Ukrainian reforms critical to its integration with the Euro-Atlantic community. Key priorities included strengthening grassroots democratic initiatives, promoting counter-terrorism and non-proliferation, and building a strong private sector.
Kenneth M. Pollack
Director of Research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies
Middle East; Military and security affairs; Persian Gulf Previous Position(s): Director for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations (2001-2002); Director for Persian Gulf Affairs, National Security Council (1999-2001); Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs, National Security Council (1995-1996); Senior Research Professor, National Defense University (1998-99, 2001); Iran-Iraq Military Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency (1988-1995)
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996; B.A., Yale University, 1988.
member. 
