Iraqi Kurdistan: New think tank takes shape

The Kurdish region’s newly registered Erbil-based think tank, the Middle East Research Institute (MERI), which went live in late January, is fast taking shape, with an ambitious programme of recruitment under way. The institute, which describes itself as an independent, not-for-profit organisation, will be headed by former Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) minister for education and scientific research Dlawer Ala’Aldeen, currently a professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Nottingham in the UK. MERI’s core funding comes from the capacity-building funds administered by the government’s Oil and Gas Council, headed by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.