Peter Khalil, Former Coalition Provisional Authority Official, Joins Saban Center at Brookings as a Visiting Fellow

The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution announced today that Peter Khalil, an expert on Iraqi security affairs and a former member of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), has been appointed a visiting fellow in its Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World.

While at Brookings, Khalil will focus his research on U.S. policy options for rebuilding the forces and national institutions of the Iraqi security sector and the implications of this endeavor for democratic and political reform in the Middle East.

“Peter Khalil is a skilled analyst of security and military affairs in the Arab world,” said Ambassador Martin S. Indyk, director of the Saban Center. “His first-hand experience working with the CPA contributes to his keen understanding of the situation in Iraq. The Saban Center is delighted to host him as a visiting scholar.”

Khalil spent nine months in Iraq as the director of national security policy for the CPA. He was responsible for developing coalition strategy and policies for rebuilding the Iraqi security forces and institutions, facilitating the reintegration of militias, and establishing the national command authorities of the Iraqi interim government. Khalil regularly met with and briefed Ambassador Paul Bremer, the head of the CPA, as well as numerous coalition military commanders. He also served as the CPA security representative on the Iraqi Governing Council’s National Security Committee, working closely with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. His work involved travel across Iraq to consult and negotiate with the representatives of major Iraqi political parties, militia commanders, tribal sheikhs, religious leaders, and regional governors.

Upon returning to Australia from Iraq, Khalil worked as the assistant director of Iraq Policy in the Iraq Task Force at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to his service in Iraq, Khalil was an international strategic policy analyst at the Australian Department of Defense. Before that, he spent time in both the public and private sector representing government and commercial interests in the areas of agriculture, international trade policy, and international banking.

An Australian national, Khalil received his B.A. and Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Melbourne, and a Master of International Laws and International Relations from the Australian National University.