What does it take to build peace in a region shaped by decades of conflict and displacement? In this episode, Dr. Amina Rasul-Bernardo sits down with Dr. Nesreen Barwari, Kurdish-Iraqi leader, academic, and public policy expert, to talk about how women’s empowerment and inclusive governance are at the heart of lasting stability. From the personal […]
Iraq today stands at a defining political moment. More than two decades after the fall of Saddam Hussein and years after the territorial defeat of ISIS, the country continues to wrestle with a deeper and more enduring challenge: the unresolved question of what kind of state Iraq aspires to become. Beneath debates over budgets, elections, […]
Dr. Nesreen Barwari 13 May 2026 Iraq today stands at a defining political moment. More than two decades after the fall of Saddam Hussein and years after the territorial defeat of داعش, the country continues to wrestle with a deeper and more enduring challenge: the unresolved question of what kind of state Iraq aspires to […]
Prof. Dr. Karim Farman / Iraqi academic writer and Professor of Law and Political Systems at Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco. The new publication by our dear friend, Prof. Dr. Nesreen Barwari, stands as a creative addition and a distinguished documentation of the journey of a self-made, eminently successful Iraqi woman. She has rightfully secured […]
I read it in Kurdish, and I felt I wasn’t just reading an ordinary biography, but crossing through the pages of a lifetime written with patience, struggle, and loyalty. It was a journey pulsing with meaning, filled with challenges that refined the soul and beautiful phrases carrying the wisdom of experience, sincerity of feeling, and […]
The Georgetown Institute for Women in Peace and Secuirty together with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies is hosting a conversation with me this Tuesday 21st of April 2026. The event will be hosted at the Mortara Center for International Studies which is located at 3600 N Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007. Please enter using […]
11 January 2026 Over two decades post the 2003 regime transition, Iraq’s democracy can be characterized as a “formal facade,” obstructed by corruption and the influence of armed militias that substantially affect political decisions through the appropriation of state resources. Iraqi culture openly acknowledges and profoundly ingrains this widespread corruption. The fundamental threat to Iraq […]
1 January 2026 As our planet ends one year and begins a new one, I have high hopes that this transition will bring us renewed optimism, a larger perspective, and a more caring attitude. The beginning of a new epoch should yield major discoveries. I trust that the wisdom obtained from life’s experiences will promote […]
Cities age like people — slowly, then all at once. The old quarter still breathes beneath its cracked stones, holding memories no one bothered to archive. Every dusk, the rooftops glow with that soft ember-colored light, the kind that makes you pause even if life’s been beating you sideways. Folks walk those narrow streets like […]
Apr 9, 2018
With over 30 years of experience across humanitarian, public, and academic sectors, she has devoted her career to promoting conflict management, good governance, and community development in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Born in Baghdad in 1967, Nesreen’s memoir unfolds the journey of a Kurdish woman forging her identity in the shadow of war, loss, and resilience. From childhood, her mother’s vivid tales and her family’s legacy of endurance taught her that survival and selfhood are woven from the threads of memory.
