NASHVILLE, Tenn.–Kanan Makiya, professor of near eastern studies at Brandeis University, presents "The United States and Post-Saddam Iraq" on Wednesday, April 2, at 4:10 p.m. in Room 114 Furman Hall on the Vanderbilt campus. Makiya is an adviser for the Iraqi National Congress.
Born in Baghdad, Makiya directs the Iraq Research and Documentation Project at Harvard University, which is attempting to make available for scholarly research three million pages of official Iraqi government documents captured by the Kurds following the Gulf War in 1991. He is the founding director of the Washington-based nonprofit organization The Iraq Foundation, which promotes public activities concerning democracy in Iraq. In Oct. 2002 he served as the convener of the human rights committee of the Iraqi National Congress’ transitional parliament.
His book "Republic of Fear," written under the pseudonym Samir al-Khalil, became a bestseller after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. "Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World," published under his own name, was awarded The Lionel Gelber Prize for the best book on international relations published in English in 1993.
Makiya has collaborated on two films for television including "Saddam’s Killing Fields" (American Title), which first exposed the 1988 campaign of mass murder in northern Iraq known as the Anfal. The film received the Edward R. Morrow Award For Best Television Documentary on Foreign Affairs in 1992. Makiya’s work was recently the subject of a feature story in the "New York Times Sunday Magazine" and public television’s "Now with Bill Moyers."
The program is free and open to the public. Furman Hall is located between the Law School and Kirkland Hall on the Vanderbilt campus. Parking is available across the street in the Wesley Place Garage at the corner of 21st Avenue and Scarritt Place (behind Alpine Bagel). For more information call (615) 343-6240 or e-mail: rpw.center@vanderbilt.edu .
Media contact:David Glasgow, (615) 322-2706 david.glasgow@vanderbilt.edu