The auditorium of the American Space at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) was brimming with a largely student audience eager not only to listen to a lecture delivered by Dr. Khalid Yakobi, Security Policies Advisor to the Prime Minister of Iraq, on the strategic security environment of Iraq and its impact on the country and its prospects of development, but also to overwhelm the distinguished guest speaker with a torrent of questions on various relevant topics, and to zealously engage him in discussion. The very lively audience comprised basically of students of AUIB’s College of International Affairs and College of Law, in addition to faculty and staff members, as well as other interested parties.
Dr. Yakobi gave a general historical brief of the major security developments, since the end of the Second World War, in the Arab Mashreq and its surroundings, the area that was called by some of the most prominent theoreticians in geopolitics “Heartland” (the exact geographic definition varies considerably by source), where conflicts between “civilizations, religions, and interests” have historically been intertwined, making the area’s security environment “very, very complicated,” according to the Security Policies Advisor who stressed that “security is indivisible… you cannot enjoy peace when your neighbor is threatened.” Dr. Yakobi’s presentation opened the door wide before the audience to ask myriad questions on a wide array of hot topics related to the security of Iraq, whether on the local, regional, or global stages; and very interesting discussions ensued!