The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host a conversation with Shaswar Abdulwahid, the President of the New Generation Movement (NGM) in Iraq. This new Iraqi political party, formed in January 2018, won four seats in the Iraqi Parliament and eight seats in the Kurdistan Parliament. Abdulwahid will delve into the priorities and future prospects of NGM, the party’s stand on Kurdish independence and work in Erbil, and challenges to government formation in Baghdad.
How can this party’s candidates deliver on their promises to be a platform for youth and minorities? What are the plans to combat corruption in government and promote economic liberalization and religious tolerance? What are the foreign policy goals and priorities for New Generation Movement leaders?
MEI Scholar Daniel Serwer will moderate the conversation.
Speakers:
Shaswar Abdulwahid
President, New Generation Movement, Iraq
Shashwar Abdulwahid is the President of the New Generation Movement (NGM) in Iraq, and the founder of NRT media. Abdulwahid also launched the “No for Now” campaign against the Iraqi-Kudistan independence referendum, in addition to launching Kurdnews, a news station devoted to the political movement. Abdulwahid was born in 1978 in the district of “Toi Malik” in Sulaymaniyah. He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sulaymaniyah in 2005. He is currently focusing his attention on media investment in order to inform citizens of their rights through the media.
Daniel Serwer (moderator) directs the Conflict Management Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is also a senior fellow at its Center for Transatlantic Relations and affiliated as a scholar with MEI. His current interests focus on the civilian instruments needed to protect U.S. national security as well as transition and state-building in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans. His book, Righting the Balance: How You Can Help Protect America, was published in November 2013 by Potomac Books.