Iraq's Economy between the US and Iran: Perceptions and Realities

This event will disseminate the findings of a series of papers produced for the LSE Middle East Centre by Ahmed Tabaqchali exploring the economic and financial interactions of the Iraqi economy with the outside world, particularly the use of the dollar in relation to Iran and the US.

While the US’ Iraq policy is still fluid, there have been signs that America’s ‘maximum pressure campaign’ towards Iran will have spillover effects in Iraq, with the Trump administration viewing policy towards Iraq solely through the lens of a perceived threat of Iranian dominance in the country. Iran’s economic footprint in Iraq, both perceived and real, will be an issue for Iraq and its relationship with the US and the West.

This event will explore the consequences on Iraq’s economic stability, its banking system, and the Central Bank of Iraq’s US dollar auction that enables the country’s interactions with the outside world.

Two papers out of this series are available to read online:

A fistful of Dinars: demystifying Iraq’s dollar auction

Big bad wolf, or is it? Iran’s economic footprint in Iraq in context

The first of two related blogs are available online: "The Dinar, and the Conundrum over the Dollar and Iran", while the second ‘The Empire Strikes Back: Trump 2.0 & Iraq’s dollar accounts at the FED’ is forthcoming.

Meet our speaker and chair

Ahmed Tabaqchali is aVisiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. Ahmed is a capital markets professional with over 25 years’ experience in US and MENA markets. He is the Chief Strategist of the AFC Iraq Fund. Ahmed is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS), and non-resident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council - Iraq Initiative. He is a board member of the Iraq Fund for Higher Education (IFHE)/Baghdad Business School (BBS). Previously, he was former Executive Director of NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of the National Bank of Kuwait, Managing Director and Head of International Institutional Sales at WR Hambrecht + Co., Managing Director at KeyBanc in London and Director & Head of Capital Markets & Institutional Sales at Jefferies International in London. He started his career at Dean Witter International in London.

Toby Dodge is a Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE. He is also Kuwait Professor and Director of the Kuwait Programme, LSE Middle East Centre. From 2013–18, Toby was Director of the Middle East Centre. Toby's research concentrates on the evolution of the post-colonial state in the international system. The main focus of this work on the developing world is the state in the Middle East, specifically Iraq.