Kawa Hassan is a Nonresident Fellow with Stimson’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Program, Founder of Shrova Strategies, a consultancy focused on MENA affairs and EU-MENA relations, a member of NATO Mission Iraq Strategic Assessment Capability (NMISAC) where he provides independent, strategic insights to the NATO Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), senior commanders, and staff about Iraq and the region.
From March 2021 to February 2023 Kawa was Executive Director Stimson Europe, Director of MENA Program & Senior Fellow. In these roles, he transferred the Brussels office & MENA Program of EastWest Institute (EWI) to the Stimson Center, established Stimson Europe, the first overseas office of Stimson Center, led projects & staff, oversaw finance, fundraising and administration, continued thought leadership on MENA affairs through publications, media commentaries, speaking at international events, and Track 2 diplomacy projects including Iran-Saudi Dialogue, Iraq and Its Neighbors, Internal Iraqi Dialogues on Socio-Economic Reforms, co-founded and co-moderated “Syria Series”, closed online roundtables on the dynamics of the Syrian war.
Prior to joining Stimson, Kawa was Vice President, MENA Program and Director, Brussels Center, EastWest Institute (EWI). In these two senior executive positions, he consolidated and expanded both MENA Program & Brussels Center through strategic diversification of donor base, designed and led the implementation of eight Track 2 diplomacy projects: “Iran Saudi Dialogue Initiative”, “Algeria-Morocco Business Dialogue”, “Kurdish-Kurdish Dialogue in Syria”, “Dialogue on Governance and Stability in Northeast Syria”, “Iraq and Its Neighbors”, “Preventing Incidents at Sea in the Gulf Region”, “Stemming ISIS Financing”, “Internal Iraqi Dialogues on Socio-Economic Reforms”, co-founded and co-moderated “Brussels Briefings”, closed roundtables on topics of current significance in the MENA region and their impacts on EU.
During his tenure at EWI Kawa Hassan achieved strategic milestones ranging from building trust between Iranian and Saudi officials and experts on issues of common concern and interest; brought together officials and experts from Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, and Turkey and produced policy recommendations on how Iraq could transform from a theater for proxy wars to a center for regional cooperation, mediated between the two Syrian Kurdish parties PYD & KNC, developed confidence and trust building measures between them on power sharing, and successfully lobbied top French and American diplomats to mediate between the two parties, to bridging the divide between ex-officials and experts from GCC, Iran, Europe, US, China, India on maritime security and developed a
protocol on preventing incidents at Sea in the Gulf region, developed practical policy ideas for improved economic ties between Algeria and Morocco.
Kawa assumed lead authorship of SIPRI’s research report “Iraq, Climate-Related Security Risk Assessment,” which was used in the July 2018 UN Security Council debate on the nexus between climate change and security, brought forward under the Swedish Presidency of the Council. He served as a member of the Atlantic Council’s Task Force on the Future of Iraq and contributed to its final report “Achieving Long Term Stability to Ensure the Defeat of ISIS;”, co-led the Working Group Rights & Protection of Minorities in the Middle East, Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme (FMSH). Furthermore, Kawa Hassan was a Visiting – & Non-resident Scholar at Carnegie Middle East Center, a knowledge officer at Hivos, held management, field-based positions at UNDP and INGOs in Sri Lanka, and was a media watcher/Iraq expert with Dutch TV channels and National Radio during Iraq war in 2003.
He is author and editor of numerous publications, international speaker, and regularly provides interviews to global media outlets. A list of his select publications: “Reimagining Levant Reconstruction in a Post-Western Aid World”, “How October 7 Transformed Middle East”, “Hamas-Israel War: End of Red Line Politics”, “Fragile Agency: Iraq’s Potential as an Intermediary for Regional Dialogue”, “A Collapsing Order: State Pillage and Social Protest in Post-Saddam Iraq”.
Kawa holds a Master of Science in International Relations, Political Science from the University of Amsterdam, and studied English and German at the Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq.
