CWIHP is pleased to announce the international conference The Iran-Iraq War: The View from Baghdad, being held on 26-27 October, in the 5^th Floor Conference Room at the Woodrow Wilson Center.  This conference is being held in connection with the release, by the Conflict Records Research Center at the National Defense University and CWIHP, of a new collection of documents detailing conversations between Saddam Hussein and his generals and officials during the Iran-Iraq War. Click here to read the released documents from the CWIHP Digital Archive Click here to read New York Times media coverage of the document release. 

The Iran-Iraq War: The View from Baghdad  Conference Agenda

Tuesday, 10/26

9:45—Introduction and Opening Remarks
Michael Van Dusen, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Ann E. Rondeau, VADM, US Navy, President, National Defense University

10:00—Panel I: The Origins of the Iran-Iraq War
(Click here to watch Webcast)
Chair:
Haleh Esfandiari, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Panelists:
Shaul Bakhash, George Mason University
Shahram Chubin, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Continuing Impact of the Iran-Iraq war on the IRI
Commentator:
Nicholas Veliotes, Former US ambassador to Jordan, Egypt, former assistant secretary of state for the Near East and South Asia

12:00— Luncheon Keynote
Chair:
Christian Ostermann, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Keynote Speaker:
David Mack, Former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs, former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates

1:30—Panel II: Inside Iraq: The Iraqi Home Front in the Iran-Iraq War
Chair:
David Palkki, National Defense University
Panelists:
Faleh Abdul-Jabar, Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies, Fractured Memories
Denise Natali, National Defense University, Saddam and the Kurds: Between Repression and Negotiation
Joseph Sassoon, Georgetown University, Control and Resistance in Iraq in the 1980s
Commentator:
Phebe Marr, Middle East Institute

3:30—Panel III: The Iran-Iraq War in the Regional Cold War Context
Chair:
Judith Yaphe, National Defense University / George Washington University
Panelists:
Nigel Ashton, London School of Economics, The Two Husseins: Jordanian-Iraqi Relations during the Iran-Iraq War
Mark Gasiorowski, Louisiana State University, The US-Iran Intelligence Liaison Relationship, May-October 1979
David Ottaway, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Commentator:
George Cave, former CIA Chief of Station, Tehran


Wednesday, 10/27

10:00—Panel IV: The Iran-Iraq War in the Global Cold War Context
(Click here to watch Webcast)
Chair:
Jim Hershberg, George Washington University
Panelists:
Malcolm Byrne, National Security Archive, Mixed Messages: U.S. Intelligence Support to Both Sides during the Iran-Iraq War
Pierre Razoux, NATO Defense College, Iran-Iraq War in the Global Cold War Context
Svetlana Savranskaya, National Security Archive, The Soviet Role in the Iran-Iraq War
Commentator:
Sergey Radchenko, University of Nottingham, Ningbo China

12:00—Lunch Break

1:30—Panel V: Saddam Hussein as Wartime Decision-Maker
(Click here to watch Webcast)
Chair:
Kevin Woods, Institute for Defense Analyses
Panelists:
Pesach Malovany, Colonel (ret.) Israel Defense Forces, Saddam's Main Military Related Decisions During the Iran-Iraq War
Amatzia Baram, University of Haifa, Iraqi Decision-Making Before and in the Iraq-Iran War: Iran, the Shi’ah of Iraq, Israel and Islam
Hal Brands, Duke University, Engaging the 'Conspiring Bastards': The Tilt Through Saddam's Eyes
Commentator:
Richard Murphy, former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, former ambassador to Mauritania, Syria, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.