In the third of a series of workshops for Iraqi national security officials, USIP hosted twenty Iraqis, most of whom are occupying senior leadership positions in Iraq´s Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Defense/Joint Headquarters.
In the third of a series of workshops for Iraqi national security officials, USIP hosted twenty Iraqis, most of whom are occupying senior leadership positions in Iraq´s Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Defense/Joint Headquarters.
During the two-week program, USIP Training Director George Ward and Program Manager Mike Lekson worked with the Iraqis to refine their skills in conflict analysis and resolution, to master negotiation styles and techniques, and to increase their understanding of the roles of third parties in helping resolve disagreements. The participants also engaged in vigorous consideration and discussion of how different cultures interact with each other, and of the situation in Iraq and how to build a better future there. Together with DC-based participants from a range of backgrounds, the Iraqis energetically engaged in the Strategic Economic Needs and Security Exercise (SENSE), a computer-driven simulation which focuses on the need for considered and coordinated decision-making in a post-conflict environment.
The group met with representatives of official and non-official Washington. The highlight of this training session was a reception at the State Department co-hosted by USIP President Richard Solomon and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Lorne Craner. Secretary of State Colin Powell greeted the Iraqis and urged them to apply what they had learned in the USIP program when they returned home as pioneers in building the new Iraq. A copy of his comments is available on the USIP webpage.
