The Sulaimani Forum is one of the largest forums for open dialogue and debate on challenging regional political issues in Kurdistan, Iraq. The conference is organized by the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS) housed at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS). The conference convenes scholars, experts, practitioners and policymakers from around the region and world to
discuss the most pressing regional issues, current trends, and points of conflict. Public lectures, open forums, smaller group discussions, and closed door sessions assuring confidentiality conducive to candid exchanges, allows the academic and policy worlds to meet, discuss, and work together towards real solutions. The inaugural Sulaimani Forum discussed "The Changing Geopolitics of the Middle East". The second annual Sulaimani Forum, "Navigating Challenges in the Middle East", was held on March 4-5, 2014. The summary and analysis of the proceedings of both conferences are available on the website: auis.edu.iq/IRIS. This year's Sulaimani Forum will be held on March 11-12, 2015. For more information, visit the website: http://sulaimaniforum.com/sulaimaniforum2015/
About IRIS:
The Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS) examines the region’s most complex issues through rigorous scholarship, advanced research, and open dialogue among academics and influential public leaders. Drawing from the diversity of expertise available at AUIS, the Institute studies present-day realities of the KRG, Iraq, and the Middle East through historic, political, cultural, social, economic, scientific, and anthropological lenses. IRIS is housed at AUIS, Iraq’s only independent, not-for-profit, American-style institution of higher learning. The University’s location in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq offers a safe space and a climate of tolerance that is uncommon in the Middle East, making it an attractive meeting place for people who cannot easily convene elsewhere. As a space for regional and international encounters, IRIS fosters mutual understanding and awareness that reaches across national borders, sectarian divisions, and differing perspectives, thus enriching IRIS’s numerous research endeavors. IRIS’s current areas of interest include energy, water resource management and policy, regional geopolitics, economic development, and gender.
