Emma Sky, OBE is a British expert on conflict, reconciliation and stability, who has worked mainly in the Middle East. She served in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

as the political advisor to US General

Ray Odierno Raymond Thomas Odierno (8 September 1954 – 8 October 2021) was an American military officer who served as a four-star general of the United States Army and as the 38th chief of staff of the Army. Prior to his service as chief of staff, Odiern ...

and General

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to h ...

during

the surge ''The Surge'' is a 2017 action role-playing video game developed by Deck13 Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is considered a spiritual successor to Deck13 Interactive's ea ...

. She is director of the International Leadership Center at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, overseeing the

Yale World Fellows Yale World Fellows is an international fellowship program at Yale University for rising global leaders. World Fellows come from around the world and from diverse disciplines. They are selected through a competitive application process. Each year ...

Program and other initiatives. She is a Senior Fellow at Yale's

Jackson Institute for Global Affairs The Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs (formerly the Yale University Jackson Institute for Global Affairs) is a professional school of Yale University that specializes in global affairs. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, the school's mission ...

, where she lectures on Middle East politics and global affairs. She is the author of ''The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq'' (2015) and ''In a Time of Monsters: Travelling in a Middle East in Revolt'' (2019).

Early life and education

Sky was born and grew up in England. She attended the Ashfold School and

Dean Close School Dean Close School is a public school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest private ...

and earned her undergraduate degree in

Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. She also studied at

Alexandria University Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

in Egypt, the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

in Israel, and the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

Career

Following Oxford, Sky spent about ten years working for

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

s in development and

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abou ...

During this period, Sky primarily lived and worked in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, and the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

, managing projects for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

to help build up the capacity of Palestinian institutions, and to promote co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2001, Sky returned to the UK and continued working for the British Council, where she remained until the launch of the 2003

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. Although opposed to the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, Sky volunteered to join the

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdishEnglish (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

and served as the Governorate Coordinator of Kirkuk from 2003 to 2004. Sky served in 2005 in Jerusalem as the Political Advisor to General Kip Ward, the US Security Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. In 2006, she was based in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

as the Development Advisor to the Italian and British Commanding Generals of NATO's

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

. From 2007 to 2010, Sky served as the Political Advisor to US General

Raymond T. Odierno Raymond Thomas Odierno (8 September 1954 – 8 October 2021) was an American military officer who served as a four-star general of the United States Army and as the 38th chief of staff of the Army. Prior to his service as chief of staff, Odiern ...

when he was the Commanding General of

Multi-National Corps – Iraq Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) was a formerly multinational, later U.S. only, army corps created on 15 May 2004, fighting the Iraq War. Its superior body, the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) had replaced Combined Joint Task Force 7 on M ...

and Commanding General of US Forces Iraq. She also advised General David Petraeus on reconciliation. Based on her experiences in Iraq, Sky testified before the

Iraq Inquiry The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot) Sky was a Spring 2011 Fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. From 2011–2012, she was a Visiting Professor at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and a Fellow at Oxford's Changing Character of War Programme. Since August 2012, Sky has been a Senior Fellow at the

Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs The Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs (formerly the Yale University Jackson Institute for Global Affairs) is a professional school of Yale University that specializes in global affairs. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, the school's mission ...

, where she lectures on Iraq and Middle East politics. Since 2015, Sky has been Director of the

international leadership development program. Sky oversaw the transition of the program to the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and in 2016 secured a $16 million contribution from the

Starr Foundation The Starr Foundation was established in 1955 by Cornelius Vander Starr, an insurance entrepreneur who founded C.V. Starr & Co. and other companies later combined by his successor, Maurice R. Greenberg, into what became the American International ...

and

Maurice R. Greenberg Maurice Raymond “Hank” Greenberg (born May 4, 1925) is an American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG). Early life Greenberg was born into a Jewish family in Greenwich Vil ...

. She also serves as the Director of Yale's Leadership Forum for Senior African Women. Sky is a member of the

Wilton Park Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Based since 1951 at Wiston House in Sussex, it organises over 70 dialogues a year in the UK and oversea ...

Advisory Council and a trustee of the

HALO Trust The HALO Trust (Hazardous Area Life-support Organization) is a non-political and non-religious registered British charity and American non-profit organization which removes debris left behind by war, in particular land mines. With over 10,000 staf ...

Books

Sky is the author ''The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq'' (2015), which was one of the ''New York Times'' 100 notable books of 2015, and

shortlisted A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction, the 2016

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...

, and the 2016

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

Arthur Ross Book Award The Arthur Ross Book Award is a politics-related literary award. History and administration It was endowed in 2001 by Arthur Ross, an American businessman and philanthropist, for the purpose of recognizing books that make an outstanding cont ...

. She also wrote ''In a Time of Monsters: Travelling in a Middle East in Revolt'' (2019).

Awards

Sky was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2003 and an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2008 in recognition of her service in Iraq.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sky, Emma Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of the British Empire British people of the Iraq War Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Yale University faculty 1968 births