Nazar Janabi
Nazar Janabi is a Next Generation fellow at The Washington Institute focusing on Iraqi and Middle Eastern security issues and democratization in the region.
A former Iraqi army officer and an engineer by training, Mr. Janabi served from 2004 to 2006 as director general for defense policy and requirements in the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. In that position he played a leading part in planning, training, and equipping the new Iraqi armed forces. His duties included designing the Ministry of Defense's civilian structure, establishing its military organization, and setting standardized processes for force requirements and procurement.
Mr. Janabi was chiefly responsible for managing a policy and requirements department and providing strategic advice regarding policy, strategy, force structure, manning levels, procurement, and force transformation in the new Iraqi armed forces, including the army, navy, air force, and special operations forces. He also maintained Ministry of Defense relations with the UN and NATO countries and negotiated budget appropriations with the Iraqi parliament and government.
As a member of an eight-person committee tasked by Iraq's interim government with drafting the country's postwar national security strategy, Mr. Janabi helped to establish the Ministry of Defense's chain of command.
After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, Mr. Janabi returned from six years abroad to found the Human Rights Center in Diwanya, Iraq. At the center, he arranged community-based activities to raise awareness of human rights and women's engagement in leadership and government. He also organized and moderated a televised debate between candidates for provincial governor and monitored the election to ensure transparency and fairness.
From 1997 to 1999 in Amman and from 1999 to 2003 in Tripoli, he worked as an engineer, executive, and engineering instructor with several firms and training institutions. In these capacities he gained experience in organizational management, institutional transformation, and media and public relations.
Mr. Janabi's father, a general officer in the Iraqi army, was executed for his role in the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein.
During the 2006-2007 academic year, Mr. Janabi was a Mason fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
A graduate of the Military Engineering College in Baghdad, he completed a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Baghdad University in 1997.
