Economic Diversification, Energy Transition, and the Labor Market in Iraq and the Gulf

As part of an ongoing collaboration with the Middle East Peace and Security Forum held in Iraqi Kurdistan at the American University of Kurdistan, the Middle East Institute and the Iraq Policy Group held a workshop on November 15, 2022 focusing on the challenges of economic diversification , energy transfer, and impacts on labor markets in Iraq and the Gulf region. Our one-day workshop included local government representatives, economic and energy experts, international development specialists, and a youth cohort, who presented their own views and experiences, particularly on job creation prospects and inclusion in clean energy production. Our conversations were frank, open, and there was an opportunity to talk about policy proposals as well as on-the-ground understandings of fiscal challenges and future growth. Collaborations of this kind are critical to scholarship, but more important to building bridges between regional experts, institutional connections, and young people who experience the dramatic changes in Iraq’s energy security and economic governance on a day-to-day basis.

This report provides insights and analyzes of a select group of participants from the workshop, previously published as individual articles on the MEI website.

Read the full report in PDF format

Articles in this series

1. Kurdistan gas and diversification, Robin M. Mills
2. The geopolitics of the energy transition in MENA: Mitigating risks, exploring new opportunities, Younes Abu
3. Iraq needs renewable energy, but will not solve its power problems without broader reforms, Jessica Obeid
4. The EPA and the road to net zero, Aisha Al-Sarihi
5. Youth dynamics and Iraq’s energy future, Salam Jabbar Shahab

Photo by ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images.